THE 


MESSAGES  OF  THE  BOOKS 


DISCOURSES  AND  NOTES  ON  THE  BOOKS  OF  THE 
NEW  TESTAMENT 


F.  W.  FAKRAR,  D.D.,  F.R.S. 

LATE   FELLUW   OF  TRINITY   COLLEGE,    CAMBRITGE 
ARCHDEACON   AND    CANON    OF   WESTMINSTER;    AND   CHAPLAIN  IN   ORDINARY   TO   THE   QUEEN 


d)S  KaXol  oiKui'OfjiOL  7rotKtA.7/s  x^P'^TOS  ©CO?. — 1  Pft.  iv.  10 


E.    p.    DUTTON   AND    CO. 

1885 

The    Right    of    Trdiislaliun    niiii    Heproduclivn    its    Henerreil 


LONDON 

R.  Clay,  'Sons,  and  Taylor, 

BREAD   STREET    HILL. 


PEEFACE. 

On  being  appointed  eight  years  ago  to  the  charge  of  a 
London  parish,  I  endeavoured  to  carry  out  a  design,  long 
entertained,  of  taking  the  Books  of  the  Bible  as  texts,  and 
preaching  a  separate  discourse  on  each  of  the  sixty-six  treatises 
which  make  up  "the  Library  of  Divine  Revelation."  My  object 
was  to  point  out  the  general  form,  the  peculiar  characteristics, 
the  special  message  of  the  Sacred  Books  one  by  one,  because 
I  had  found  by  experience,  both  as  a  teacher  and  as  a  clergy- 
man, that  this  method  of  studying  each  part  of  Scripture 
as  a  complete  whole  was  much  less  common  than  could  be 
desired.  There  seemed  to  me  to  be  no  adequate  reason 
why  multitudes  of  Christians  should  be  so  little  acquainted 
with  the  distinctive  scope  and  individuality — the  physiognomy 
and  psychology,  if  I  may  be  allowed  the  expressions — of 
each  separate  part  of  the  living  oracles.  Until  a  wider 
method  of  studying  Scripture  is  adopted,  much  of  the  labour 
bestowed  on  isolated  texts  will  be  wasted.  The  true  mean- 
ing of  a  text  is  often  incomprehensible  unless  it  be  considered 
historically,  and  unless  its  original  sense  be  thus  disentangled 
from  the  misinterpretations  to  which  almost  every  memorable 
sentence  of  the  Bible  has  at  some  time  or  other  been  exjDosed. 


vi  Preface. 

No  one  who  has  not  given  special  attention  to  the  subject  can 
have  any  conception  of  the  extent  to  which  fragments  of  the 
Bible  have  been  misquoted  and  misapplied.  Itis  no  exag- 
geration to  say  that  the  majority  of  the  shibboleths  which  have 
been  bandied  about  in  current  controversies  are  applied  in 
senses  entirely  apart  from  those  in  which  they  were  intended 
by  the  original  writers.  Such  texts  are  associated  in  most 
minds  with  meanings  which  have  assiduously  been  read  into 
them,  but  which  they  do  not  really  contain.  A  volume  of  the 
saddest  import,  and  of  the  most  solemn  warning,  might  be 
written  on  the  calamities  which  have  ensued  in  age  after  age 
of  civil  and  ecclesiastical  history  from  systematic  perversions 
of  Holy  Writ.  The  surest  way  to  cure  such  evils  in  the 
present,  and  to  obviate  such  disasters  in  the  future,  is  the 
study  of  Scripture  as  a  whole,  and  the  consideration  of 
each  part  of  it  in  relation  to  the  age  and  conditions 
under  which  it  was  written.  "  I  am  convinced,"  says 
Goethe,  "  tliat  the  beauty  of  the  Bible  increases  in 
proportion  as  it  is  understood  ;  that  is  to  say,  in  proportion 
as  we  consider  and  perceive  that  each  word  which  we  take 
generally,  has  had  a  peculiar,  special,  and  directly  individual 
application  in  accordance  with  given  circumstances  of  place 
and  time." 

Surely  then  among  the  sermons  which  are  yearly 
preached  in  the  Church  of  England,  and  which  treat  of 
so  great  a  variety  oi"  subjects,  there  must  be  room  for 
some  which  deal  with  entire  sections  of  Scripture,  with 
the  desire  to  set  forth  something  of  their  meaning  and 
history.  Yet  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  no  volume  of  discourses 
devoted  to  this  end  has  been  published  by  any  clergy- 
man  of  the  Church  of    P]ngland.      The    statement   might 


Preface.  vii 

indeed  be  made .  much  broader.  There  are  many  series  of 
sermons  devoted  to  the  consecutive  exposition  of  some  one 
book  of  the  Bible,  but  until  this  volume  was  nearly  com- 
pleted, I  did  not  know  of  any  volume  of  sermons  either 
in  Patristic,  Scholastic,  Reformation,  or  Post -Reformation 
theology,  from  the  first  century  down  to  the  last  decade, 
which  contains  a  series  of  discourses  dealing  seriatim  with 
"  the  Messages  of  the  Books."  ^  It  has  always  been  too  much 
the  tendency  of  Christians  to  construct  their  theology  and 
supjDort  their  spiritual  life  by  means  of  isolated  texts.  But 
it  is  as  impossible  to  judge  of  the  design  or  to  realise  the 
sj)lendour  of  a  mosaic  by  picking  up  some  glittering  fragment 
of  it,  as  to  judge  of  Scripture  or  to  apprehend  its  "  many- 
coloured  wisdom "  by  a  few  favourite  verses.  We  do  not 
treat  even  the  higher  works  of  human  genius  in  this  manner. 
No  one  would  suppose  that  a  reader  understood  the  mind  of 
Shakspeare  merely  because  he  could  repeat  some  of  the  finest 
lines  of  Hamld  or  King  Lear ;  nor  should  we  assume  that  a 
man  who  had  never  read  the  Paradise  Lost,  had  entered  into 
the  heart  of  Milton  merely  because  he  was  able  to  repeat 
with  enthusiasm  some  of  the  most  familiar  j^assages  of  the 
poem.  But  if  this  be  true  of  the  works  of  single  authors, 
how  much  more  must  it  apply  to  the  Bible,  which  is  not  a 
single  book,  but  the  collected  literature  of  a  whole  people 
written  amid  the  most  astonishing  varieties  of  condition  and 
circumstance,  by  a  multitude  of  different  authors,  of  whom 
some  were  separated  from  others  by  a  space  of  sixteen 
hundred  years  ? 

The  present  volume  is  devoted  to  the  Books  of  the  New 

^  It  was  only  when  my  book  was  very  nearly  complete  that  I  heard  of 
Dr.  Donald  Fraser's  Synoptical  Lectures,  in  which  a  similar  plan  is  carried  out. 


viii  Preface. 

Testameut,  and  if  it  should  be  found  useful  it  will  be  followed 
in  time  by  one  on  the  Books  of  the  Old  Testament.  As 
I  have  spoken  of  the  Gospels  and  Epistles  in  previous 
works,  I  have  inevitably  gone,  to  some  extent,  over  old 
ground,  and  in  some  passages  have  used  the  same  language. 
But  since  the  entire  setting  of  the  present  work,  as  well  as 
much  that  it  contains,  is  new,  I  venture  to  hope  that  it 
may  not  be  wholly  unacceptable  to  those  who  have  my 
former  books  in  their  possession  no  less  than  to  other 
readers. 

If  the  present  attempt  should  lead  other  clergymen  to 
bring  the  whole  of  the  Bible  before  their  hearers.  Book  by 
Book,  and  to  carry  out  the  design  in  a  manner  far  superior  to 
that  which  has  alone  been  possible  to  me,  my  labour  will  not 
have  been  in  vain.  I  trust  that  these  discourses  will  be 
accepted  as  one  more  attempt — however  humble — to  advance 
the  general  knowledge  of  Scripture,  and  to  make  known  the 
unsearchable  riches  of  Christ. 

F.  W.  Farrar. 


Sr.  Mahoaukt's  Recioky,  Westminster, 
September,  1884. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

DISCOURSE  I. 
THE  FOUR  GOSPELS. 

PAGE 

General  Object. — The  Gospels  not  earliest  in  order. — "The  New  Testa- 
ment."— The  word  "Gospel." — Hellenistic  Greek. — Three  Events, 
i.  The  Evangelists,  ii.  Differences  between  the  S3'noptists  and  St. 
John.  iii.  Emblems  of  the  Evangelists :  1.  Characteristics  of  St. 
Matthew.  2.  Of  St.  Mark.  3.  Of  St.  Luke.  4.  Of  St.  John.— 
Summary. — How  to  read  the  Gospels 3-21 

Note  L — The  Origin  of  the  Gospels 22 

IL— Style  of  Different  Books 28 


II.  - 

ST.  MATTHEW'S  GOSPEL. 

1.  The  Evangelist. — 2.  The  first  Gospel. — 3.  Genuineness  and  Importance. 
— 4.  Date.  The  testimony  of  an  eye-witness. — 5.  Object  of  the 
Gospel. — 6.  It  was  written  mainly  for  Jewish  Christians. — 7.  Illus- 
trations of  this  fact. — 8.  General  characteristics. — 9.  Simplicity  and 
grandeur  of  this  Gospel.  Detailed  outline. — 10.  "  Immeasurably 
effective  " 29-48 

Note  I. — Analysis  of  St.  Matthew      49 

II. — Unity  of  the  Gospel 50 

III. — The  Gospel  according  to  the  Hebrews 52 


X  Tiihlc  of  Contents. 

III. 

ST.  MARICS  GOSPEL. 

PAGE 

].  Not  an  epitome. — 2.  St.  Mark.^'3.  Date. — 4.  Written  for  Romans. — 
5.  General  object. — 6.  Characteristics  :  i.  Impetuous  movement,  ii. 
Special  vividness.  iii.  Kealistic  portraiture,  iv.  A  marvellous 
picture. — 7.  Grandeur  of  the  Lord's  manhood. — 8.  Other  peculiari- 
ties        53-66 

Note  1.— On  the  Genuineness  of  Mark  xvi.  9-20 67 


IV. 

ST.  LUKE'S  GOSPEL. 

The  Evangelist  St.  Luke  and  his  Gospel. — Characteristics:  I.  The  first 
hymnologist.  II.  Prominence  given  to  Prayer.  III.  Gratuitousness 
and  universality  of  the  Gospel.  IV.  Illustrations  :  a.  A  Gospel  of 
Love.  ^.  Gospel  of  the  Infancy.  7.  Gospel  of  the  Gentiles.  5. 
Gospel  of  womanhood.  V.  The  Gospel  of  the  Poor.  VI.  The  Gospel 
for  Sinners.     A'll.  The  Gosjiel  of  Tolerance.     VIII.  Summary  .    .  70-87 

Note  I. — Further  Characteristics 88 

II. — The  Gospel  of  Marcion      91 

III.— Analysis 92 

IV. — The  Muratorian  Fragment 92 


V. 

ST.  JOHN'S  GOSPEL. 

Genuineness  of  the  Gospel.  — 1.  OuMiiip  of  the  Gospel. — 2.  Threefold 
object :  i.  Jesus  was  the  Son  of  fiod.  ii.  .Tesus  was  the  Christ,  iii. 
Jesus  the  source  of  Eternal  Life. — 3.  "The  spiritual  Gospel." — 4. 
The  Gospel  of  the  Incarnation. — 5.  The  Gospel  of  Witness. — 6.  The 
Go.spel  of  the  Logos. — 7.  The  Gospel  of  Symbolism 94-113 

Note  I. — Special  Words  and  Phrases      114 

II. — The  Muratorian  Fragment 116 

III.-  External  Evidence 116 


Table  of  Contents.  xi 

VI. 
THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

rAGE 

High  value  of  the  book. — Its  divisions  and  outline. — Chief  features  :  1. 
The  title.  2.  The  testimony  of  an  eye-witness.  3.  The  first  Church- 
History.  4.  An  Eirenicon.  5.  Conscientious  accuracy  of  St.  Luke. 
o.  The  Acts  and  the  Epistles.  j8.  The  general  accuracy  vindicated. 
6.  The  gi'owth  of  the  Christian  Church.  7.  Secret  of  its  growth. 
8.  Tlie  Acts  stamped  with  the  individuality  of  the  writer    .    .    .  121-139 


A'll. 

FORM  OF  THE  EPISTLES. 

Unique  Character  of  the  New  Testament. — 1.  The  Epistles  fall  into  groups. 
Object  of  the  Discourse.  1.  They  were  casual  and  unsystematic,  ii. 
Advantage  of  this  circumstance,  iii.  Adapted  to  the  individuality 
of  St.  Paul. — 2.  Letters  to  Churches  common  among  Jews. — 3. 
General  outline  of  most  Epistles. — 4.  The  Greetings. — 5.  The  Thanks- 
giving.— 6.  Interweaving  of  doctrine  and  practice. — 7.  The  final 
salutations.     Desirability  of  reading  the  Epistles  as  wholes    .    .143-157 

Note. — Early  Christian  Pseudepigi-aphy 158 


VIII. 

ST.  PAUL'S  THIRTEEN  EPISTLES. 

Opening  remarks  :  I. — 1.  Importance  of  the  chronological  ordei'.  2.  St. 
Paul's  letters  fall  into  four  groups.  3.  General  sketch  :  i.  The 
Epistles  to  the  Thessalonians.  Eschatological.  ii.  Second  group. 
Personal  and  doctrinal.  Period  of  "storm  and  stress."  iii.  Third 
group.  Personal  and  Christological.  iv.  Fourth  gi-oup.  The  Pas- 
toral Epistles. — II.  General  characteristics  of  each  Epistle. — 
Summary lGO-171 

Note  I.— St.  Paul's  Epistles 172 

II. — Various  groupings  of  the  Epistles 172 

III.— Chronology  of  the  Epistles 173 


Table  of  Contents. 


IX. 

THE  FIRST  EPISTLE  TO  THE  TUESSALONIAXS. 

PACK 

1.  Thessalonica.— 2.  St.  Paul  at  Thessalonica.— 3.  His  aifection  for  the 
Thessalonians.— 4.  The  First  Epistle  his  earliest  extant  writing.— 5. 
Its  general  cliaracteristics  :  i.  Its  gentleness,  ii.  General  outline. 
— 6.  Its  importance.— firowth  of  St.  Paul's  mind.— Two  practical 
duties  :  a.  Purity,     h.  Brotherly  love 175-189 

NoTK  I. — Leading  idua  of  the  Epistle 190 

II.— Analysis 190 

III. — Genuineness 191 

IV. — Dates  in  the  History  of  Thessalonica 192 


THE  SECOND  EPISTLE  TO  THE  THESSALONIANS. 

News  from  Thessalonica. — 1.  Danger  of  Eschatological  over-excitement. 
— 2.  Doctrine  of  the  Epistle  :  i.  The  Man  of  Sin.  ii.  Main  impor- 
tance of  the  section.— 3.  Practical  lesson. — 4.  Advents  of  Christ: 
i.  Be  ready,     ii.  How  to  be  ready 193-204 

Note  I. — Leading  Facts 205 

II.— Analysis 205 

III.— The  Man  of  Sin 205 


XI. 

THE  FIRST  EPISTLE   TO   THE  CORINTHIANS. 

St.  Paul  and  Corinth. — I.  A  letter  to  St.  Paul  from  the  Corinthians. — Its 
seven  inquiries. — Serious  disorders  prevalent  in  the  Church. — Effect 
of  these  tidings  on  St.  Paul. — The  method  of  his  reidy.— Light 
thrown  on  the  character  of  St.  Paul. — II.  Outline  of  the  Letter. 
— Practical  lessons :  i.  Unity  amid  divergent  opinions,  ii.  Little 
details  to  be  decided  by  great  principles,  iii.  Life  in,  but  not  of,  the 
world 208-224 

NoTK  I. — Leading  Ideas 225 

II.— Analysis 225 

III.— Dates  in  the  History  of  Corinth 26 


Table  of  Contents. 


XII. 
THE  SECOND  EPISTLE  TO  THE  CORINTHIANS. 


PACE 


The  answer  to  calumnies. — 1.  Apologia  pro  vitd  stcd. — 2.  Intervening  cir- 
cumstances.— Agitation  of  St.  Paul's  mind. — 3.  The  least  sj'ste- 
matic  of  St.  Paul's  letters. — General  outline. — 4.  His  appeals  and 
assurances. — 5.-  Sudden  break  in  the  tone  of  the  letter. — A  fragment 
of  autobiography. — 6.  General  lessons :  a.  "Judge  not."  /3.  How  to 
bear  calumny,     y.  Strength  in  the  midst  of  weakness 227-241 

Note  I. — General  Characteristics  of  the  Epistle 242 

II. — Analysis 243 

III. — Effects  produced  by  the  Epistle 243 

IV. — Attacks  upon  St.  Paul  and  his  rojilies 244 


XIII. 

THE  EPISTLE  TO  THE  GALATIANS. 

Introdudory. — Galatia  and  its  inhabitants. — Founding  of  the  Church. — 
Date  of  the  Epistle. — Jewish  tactics  about  circumcision. — The  Koyal 
Family  of  Adiabene. — Josephus. — "Rabbi." — St.  Paul  on  circumci- 
sion,— Decisiveness  of  his  letter 247-250 


1.  The  Bible  the  Book  of  Freedom.— 2.  The  yoke  of  formalism.— 3.  St. 
Paul's  vehemence. — 4.  Form  of  the  letter.  Self-defence. — 5.  Out- 
worn ceremonialism. — 6.  Practical  section  of  the  letter. — 7.  Im- 
portance of  the  letter :  i.  Historically,     ii.  Practically     ....  251-266 

Note  I.— Analysis 267 


XIV. 

THE  EPISTLE  TO  THE  ROMANS. 

Introductory. — Founding  of  the  Church  of  Rome. — Character  and  general 

idea  of  the  Epistle 268-274 

1.  St.  Paul's  Gospel. — 2.  Justification  by  faith.  —3.  Object  of  the  discourse. 
— 4.  Outline  of  the  letter. — 5.  Its  fundamental  theme. — 6.  The  case 
considered  in  the  concrete  :  i.  The  free  grace  of  God.  ii.  The  free 
will  of  man.— 7.  "  In  Christ." 274 -2S8 

Note  I. — Analysis 289 

II. — Integrity  of  the  Epistle 290 

III. — The  Jews  in  Rome 292 


xi  Table  of  Contents. 

XV. 
THE  EPISTLE  TO  THE  PHILIPPIANS. 

PAGE 

IjUroducto7ij. — Oonuiiioness  and  unity      293,  294 


1.  Third  group  of  letters.— 2.  Occasion  of  the  letter.— Generosity  of  the 
riiilippians.— Visit  of  Epaphroditus.— Characteristics  of  the  letter. 
—Exhortation  to  unity.— 3.  Charm  of  the  letter.— A  sudden  out- 
burst of  feeling.— 4.  Two  topics  :  i.  Liberality,  ii.  Joy.— St.  Paul 
in  exile  contrasted  with  Ovid,  Seneca,  Dante,  and  others.— xa^pere 
Ka\  xaipofiev 295-306 

Note.  I.~Outline  and  Phraseology 307 


XVI. 

THE  EPISTLE  TO  THE  COLOSSI  J  XS. 

Reason  for  writing. — Churches  of  the  Lycus- valley. — The  Colossian  heresy. 
— How  St.  Paul  met  it.— Style  of  the  Epistle. — 1.  Five  sections. 
— Introduction.— 2.  Doctrinal.— 3.  Polemical.— 4.  Practical. — 5. 
Personal.— Two  s^iecial  passages  :  I.  i.  19-ii.  3.  II.  ii.  3-iii.  4.— The 
true  remedy  against  concupiscence. — Important  lessons  of  the 
Epistle 309  322 

Note  I. — Sjiccial  Expressions  and  Passages 323 


XVII. 

THE  EPISTLE  TO  THE  EPHESIAXS. 

Manysidedness  (if  St.  Paul. — 1.  Sensitiveness  of  his  mind. — The  Epistlt-s 
to  the  C'olossians  and  Ephesians. — 2.  Beauty  and  grandeur  of  the 
Epistle  to  tlie  Ephesians. — 3.  Probably  an  encyclical  letter. — Its  two 
divisions. — Doctrinal  section. — 4.  Practical  section. — 5.  The  Chris- 
tian's armour. — 6.  Concluding  thoughts 325-334 

Note  I.— Outline 335 

II. — Genuineness 335 

III. — Leading  Words 337 

IV.— Leading  Thoughts 33S 

v.— Theology 339 


Table  of  Contents.  xv 

XVITI. 
THE  EPISTLE  TO  PHILEMON. 

PAGE 

Philemon  and  Onesimus. — Ancient  slavery. — The  Silanian  Law,  and  the 
slaves  of  Pedanius  Secundus. — The  Gospel  to  slaves. — St.  Paul's 
love  for  Onesimus. — He  sends  him  back  with  this  letter. — Plays  on 
words  :  1.  Charm  of  the  letter.  2.  It  throws  light  on  the  character 
of  St.  Paul.  3.  Equality  before  God.  4.  Slavery  among  Pagans  and 
Jews.  5.  The  manner  in  which  Christianity  dealt  with  social 
problems.  6.  The  Magna  Charta  of  Freedom. — Pliny's  letter  to 
Sabinianus 340-352 

Note.  I. — Special  Words  and  Phrases 353 

II.— Friends  of  St.  Paul = 354 

III.— Slavery 354 


XIX. 

THE  FIRST  EPISTLE  TO  TIMOTHY. 

Timothy  and  St.  Paul. — Outline  of  the  letter  :  1.  Internal  evidence  of 
its  genuineness.  2.  It  abounds  in  memorable  passages  and  expres- 
sions.— Special  passages  :  a.  ii.  15,  "  Saved  through  the  child- 
bearing."  j3.  "A  good  degree."  y.  iii.  15.  S.  v.  18.  e.  v.  21.— 
Other  expressions. — Testimony  of  the  Muratorian  Fragment  .    .  355-367 

Note  I.  —  St.   Paul's  second  Imprisonment,   and  the  Genuineness  of  the 

Pastoral  Epistles 368-372 


XX. 

THE  EPISTLE  TO   TITUS. 

Travels  of  St.  Paul  after  his  liberation.— Titus.— Outline  of  the  Epistle. 
Its  characteristics  :  1.  Leading  conceptions  :  a.  The  word  "  Saviour." 
/3.  '^  Soundnefis  in  doctrine."  y.  "  Sobermindcdncss."  5.  Prominence 
of  ''good  ivories."  e.  Duty  of  " sulmission."  2.  Majestic  sum- 
maries of  Christian  faith,  ii.  11 — 14  ;  iii.  4 — 7.  3.  Special  passages. 
o.  Severe  remark  about  Cretans.  0.  iii.  13,  14,  Zcnas,  Apollos, 
and  "  our  people."    y.  Ileresy  and  "faction." 373-383 


xvi  Table  of  Contents. 

XX!. 
THE  SECOND  EPISTLE  TO  TIMOTHY. 

PAGE 

Scripture  as  judged  by  its  owu  contents  :  1.  St.  Paul.  2.  Tliu  Neroniau 
persecution.  3.  St.  Paul's  final  movements  — His  imprisonment. — 
His  Trial. — 4.  "The  cloak."  5.  "The  books  and  parchments." — 
Letier  of  Tyndale  from  his  prison  at  Vilvoorde.  6.  What  the 
message  teaches  :  i.  Human  needs  and  sympathies,  ii.  Manly  good 
.sense  of  the  Apostle,  iii.  Eartlily  and  heavenly  rewards.  7.  Source 
of  St.  Paul's  strength 384-396 

Note   I. — Outline,    motive,    special   passages,    and   expressions   of  the 

Epistle 397 


THE  CATHOLIC  EPISTLES. 

XXIi. 
THE  EPISTLE  OF  ST.  JAMES. 

Two  parties  of  the  Early  Church. — James  the  Lord's  Brother. — His  con- 
version.— A  Nazarite. — Date  of  the  Epistle  and  circumstances  under 
which  it  was  written. — Addressed  to  Jews  as  well  as  to  Jewish  Chi'is- 
tians. — Seven  sections  of  the  letter. — Three  appendices. — Its  style. — 
Leading  idea. — Abruptness. — "Ebionitic"  element. — Parallels  to 
other  writings.- — Absence  of  distinctive  Christian  doctrines. — Cause 
of  this. — High  value  of  the  Epistle. — Luther's  harsh  and  mistaken 
judgment. — St.  James  and  St.  Paul. — Manifoldness  of  Wisdom  .  401-414 

Note  L — Leading  words 415 

IL — Peculiar  expressions 415 

in. — Special  passages 417 

IV. — Not  a  translation 417 


XXIII. 
THE  FIRST  EPISTLE  (>F  PETER. 

Many  internal  evidences  of  the  genuineness  of  the  Epistle. — It  illusti-ates 
the  character  of  St.  Peter. — Catholicity. — Indebted  yet  independent. 
— References  to  St.  Paul's  Epistles. — Not  a  tendency-writing. — Prac- 
tical point  of  View. — One  doctrine  of  capital  importance. — The 
Gospel  to  the  Dead. — Circumstances  under  which  the  Epistle  was 
written. — General  Outline. — Concluding  remarks 419-429 

Note  I. — Keynotes  of  the  Epistle 430 

II. — Special  words .        .  430 

III. — Special  passages 431 


Tabic  of  Contents.  xvii 

XXIV. 

THE  EPISTLE  TO    THE  HEBMEIFS. 

PAGE 

Not  written  by  St.  Paul  or  by  any  Ajjostle.— Our  only  canonical  speci- 
men of  Alexandrian  Christianity. — Its  Alexandrian  characteristics. — 
^/o)-;'wri  argument. — Regards  Judaism,  not  as  a  Law  but  as  a  system 
of  worship. — Probably  written  by  Apollos. — Anonymous. — Object  of 
the  Epistle  to  prove  the  supremacy  of  Christ,  and  of  the  New  Cove- 
nant.— Admirable  method  adopted. — 1.  Christ  a  High  Priest  after 
the  order  of  Melchizedek  :  What  is  known  about  Melchizedek  :  Idle 
and  baseless  theories  :  Argument  of  the  writer. — 2.  Misunderstood 
passages. — 3.  Sternness  of  tone  :  The  passages  explained     .    .    .434-447 

Note  I.— Analysis  of  the  Epistle 448 

II. — Charactei-istic  "Words 449 


XXV. 

THE  EPISTLE  OF  JUDE. 

Surprising  phenomena. — 1.  The  writer,  "The  Brother  of  James," 
little  known.  2.  Date  and  circumstances  of  the  letter. — Appalling 
intrusion  of  immorality  and  heresy. — Indignant  protests. — The  pri- 
mitive Church  not  spotless. — Character  of  the  heretics. — Analogous 
to  the  post-Reformation  Anabaptists. — Rabbinic  and  Haggadistic 
allusions      450  458 

Note  I. — Structure  and  phraseology 459 


XXVI. 

THE  SECOND  EPISTLE  UF  ST.  PETER. 

Scanty  external  evidence  in  favour  of  its  genuineness. — Its  acceptance 
into  the  Canon. — Doubts  respecting  it  in  the  age  of  the  Reformation. 
— Extraorduiary  phraseology  and  style. — Differs  in  all  important  re- 
spects from  the  First  Epistle. — Strange  phenomena  of  the  letter.— 
Unexplained  resemblances  to  St.  Jude's  Epistle. — Intentional  diver- 
gences.— Remarkable  parallels  to  the  language  of  Josephus. — Cannot 
be  a  translation. — Pseudepigraphy  in  the  Early  Church. — Intrinsic 
vidue  of  the  Epistle 460-472 

Note  I. — Outline  of  the  Epistle 473 


xviii  Tabic  of  Contents. 

XXVII. 
THE  FIRST  EPISTLE  OF  ST.  JOIIX. 

PAGE 

Introductory. — An  encyclical  letter. — Intended  to  accompany  the  Gospel. 
— Parallels  between  the  two. — Not  addressed  "to  Virgins." — Perhaps 
the  last  utterance  of  Apostolic  inspiration. — Changes  caused  by  the 
Fall  of  Ji-rusaleni. — Incipient  heresies  respecting  the  nature  of  Christ. 
— How  St.  John  dealt  with  them, — The  Epistle  consecutive  and  sys- 
tematic—Finality of  St.  John's  utterances.— St,  Paul  and  St. 
John  474-478 

How  it  differs  from  other  Epistles.-  "Written  to  those  who  knew  the  truth. 
— Object  of  the  Epistle. — Special  motives  for  writing  it. — i.  Here- 
sies met  by  practical  truths  :  ii.  The  tone  adopted. — Confidence  and 
peace. — Love. — Differences  between  the  Apostles. — Plan  and  Outline 
of  the  letter:  i.  God  is  light:  ii.  God  is  righteous  :  iii.  God  is  Love. 
— Idols.     Keep  yourselves  from  idols 479-489 

Note  I.— Analysis  of  the  Epistle 490 

II.— Style 492 

III.— Special  Pa.<iRnc,'Ps 492 

IV. — Genuineness 493 


XXVIII. 

THE  SECOND  EPISTLE  OF  ST.  JOffX. 

Cliristian  correspondence. — The  letters  genuine. — Evidence. — Analysis  — 
1.  Who  was  the  Elder  ?— 2.  Who  was  the  Elect  Lady  ?— 3.  Warning 
against  furthering  heretics. — Abuse  of  the  Passage 405-503 


XXIX. 

THE  THIRD  EPISTLE  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

"Gaius  the  beloved." — "Truth." — Early  Missionaries. — 1,  Domineering 
Diotrephes.— 2.  Demetrius 504-507 


Table  of  Contents.  xix 

XXX. 

THE  REVEL  A  TION  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

PAGE 

The  earliest  of  St.  John's  writings. — Inferiority  to  the  Gospel  in  form  and 
manner. — Characteiistics  of  Apocalyptic  literature. — Dislike  of  the 
Apocalypse. — Vagaries  of  interpretation.— Its  true  grandeur. — A 
protest  against  the  Neronian  persecution. — Maran  atha  ! — Essential 
ideas. — General  structure. — The  seals. — The  trumpets. — Episode. — 
Eetrospective  Vision. — Nero  the  Wild  Beast. — The  Second  Wild 
Beast. — Conflicts  and  triumphs. — The  Epilogue. — Why  the  Apo- 
calypse has  been  misunderstood. — Rome  and  Jerusalem. — Eternal 
lessons 511-530 

KoTE. — Apocalyptic  Symbols; 531 


Si.Uv^j'UJUr^S  h^iff^ 


LaJU^ 


THE   GOSPELS. 

'*  Si  come  luce  luce  in  ciel  seconda 

Vennero  appvesso  lor  quattro  animali 
Coronato  ciascuu  di  verde  fronda." 

Dante,  Purgatorio,  xxix.  PI- 93. 

"  Ich  halte  die  Evangelien  fiir  durcliaus  acht ;  denn  es  i.st  in  ilnien  der 
Abglanz  einer  Hoheit  wirksam,  die  von  der  Person  Christi  ansging :  die  ist 
gottlicher  Art,  wie  niir  je  auf  Erden  das  Gottliche  erschienen  ist." — Goethe, 
Gcsiprachc  mil  Eckcrmann,  iii.  371. 

"  Mag  die  geistige  Cultur  imnicr  fortschreiten,  mogen  die  Naturwissezi- 
schaften  in  imnier  breiterer  Ausdehnung  nnd  Tiefe  wachsen,  nnd  der  menschliche 
Geist  sicli  erweitern  wie  er  will ;  iiber  die  Hoheit  und  sittliche  Cultur  des 
Christenthums,  wie  es  in  den  Evangelien  leuchtet,  wird  es  nicht  liinaus- 
kommen." — Id, 


THE   FOUR  GOSPELS, 


H  ay'ia  tcSv  evayyeX'iuu  TerpaKTvs. — EUSEB.,  II.  E.  iii.  25. 

"The  beginning  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Clirist,  the  Son  of  God." 
Makk  i.  1. 

It  will  be   my  endeavour  in  the   following  discourses  to    the  four 


consider  the  main  object  and  special  peculiarities  of  each  of 

the  twenty-seven  books  of   which   the    New  Testament   is 

composed.     Out  of  the  many  thousands  of  sermons  which 

are  weekly  and  sometimes  even  daily  delivered  in  England, 

it  is  I  think  very  desirable  that  some  should  be  devoted  to 

the  scope  and  meaning  of  the  Books  of  Scripture  rather  than 

to  its  separate  texts.      By  thus  doing  we  can  as  it  were  kneel 

down  to  drink  of  the  pure   stream  as   it  bursts  from   the 

living  rock.     The  Bible  teaches  us  its  best   lessons   when 

we  search  its  pages  as  wise  and  humble  learners  ;  when  we 

judge  of  it  by  the  truths  which  we  learn  from  it,  and  not  by 

the  prejudices  and  prepossessions  which  we  bring  to  it ;  when 

we  seek  in  it  the  elements  and  bases  of  our  faith,  not  when 

we  go  to  it  for  proof  texts  of  doctrines  which  we  already 

hold.i 

We  naturally  begin  with  the  Gospels.     It  is  true  that  they 

do  not  belong  chronologically  to  the  earliest,  but  to  the  latest 

period  of  the  New  Testament  writings.    We  will  speak  of  the 

^  "Optimus  interpres  hie  est  qui  sonsum  e  Scriptura  potius  retuhnit  quam 
attulerit,  ncc  cogat  hoc  iu  dietis  contontum  vi(ieri  quod  ante  intelligentiam 
docere  praesumseiit. " — Luther,  after  HiUiry,  De  Trinitate,  1. 

B    2 


GOSPELS. 


4  The  Gosjyela. 

HIE  Fouii  other  books  as  far  as  possible  in  the  order  in  which  they  were 
GOSPELS,  -written,  and  we  shall  find  an  obvious  advantage  in  so  doing. 
No  inconvenience  will,  however,  result  from  our  speaking 
first  of  the  four  Gospels,  both  because  they  record  the  life  of 
Christ,  which  was  the  beginning  of  the  good  tidings  and  of 
the  New  Covenant,  and  because  some  records  more  or  less 
similar  to  them  must  have  existed  in  an  oral  form  for  many 
years  before  they  were  reduced  to  writing  by  the  four 
Evangelists. 

Let  us  first  of  all  notice  the  phrase, "  The  New  Testament." 
It  is  taken  from  the  rendering  of  Luke  xxii.  20,  "  This  cup  is 
the  new  testament  in  my  blood."  ^  Strange  to  say,  the  title, 
like  "  Old  Testament,"  is  founded  on  a  pure  mistake,  which 
is  now  too  deeply  rooted  to  be  removed.  Happily  it  is  not  a 
mistake  which  does  any  harm,  or  convej^s  any  false  impression. 
In  the  Revised  Version,  which  in  hundreds  of  verses  serves  as 
an  admirable  commentary  on  the  true  meaning  of  Scripture, 
the  verse  is  rightly  rendered,  "  This  cup  is  the  new  covenant 
in  my  blood."  A  "  testament "  means  "  a  will,"  .and  the  Jews 
knew  nothing  about  "  making  wills."  They  neither  possessed 
the  phrase  nor  the  custom  till  they  had  learnt  them  both 
from  the  Romans.  The  word  rendered  "testament"  (Sta- 
OrjKT])  is  the  equivalent  for  the  Hebrew  word  Bcrith  (which 
occurs  in  the  name  Baal  Berith,  "  lord  of  the  covenant "). 
Nowhere  in  the  New  Testament  does  it  mean  "  a  will,"  ex- 
cept (for  a  special  reason)  in  a  single  passage  of  the  Ejjistle 
to  the  Hebrews.^  What  we  call  the  "  New  Testament "  is 
the  book  which  reveals  to  us  that  fresh  {Kaivrf)  covenant 
which  God,  in  this  last  epoch  of  the.  world's  history,  has 
made  with  man  in  Jesus  Christ,  as  He  had  made  His  former 
covenant  with  Abraham  and  with  Moses. 

In  placing  the  Gosjiels  first  in  the  order  of  the  canon,  the 
Church  has  been  guided  by  a  right  instinct.  For  Christi- 
anity is  an  historical  religion,  and  our  Christian  faith  is 
faith  in  God  revealed  in  Christ.     Now  the  Gospels  not  only 

'  Comp.  Matt.  xxvi.  28  (in  U.  V.),  1  -Cor.  xi.  2t>.  ^  Hcbiew.s  ix.  16,  17. 


GOSPELS. 


The  word  "  Gospel."  5 

record  for  us  the  historic  facts  which  are  the  objective  bases     the  four 
of  our  Christian  creed,  but  they  are  our  ahnost  exclusive 
authority  on  this  subject.     They  tell  us  all  that  we  are  really 
permitted  to  know  in  detail  about  the  earthly  life  of  the 
Saviour  in  whom  we  believe.^ 

The  word  Gospel  is  the  Saxon  translation  of  the  Greek 
word  eiiangelion.^  In  early  Greek  the  word  meant  the  reward 
given  to  one  who  brought  good  tidings.^  In  Attic  Greek 
it  meant  (in  the  plural)  a  sacrifice  for  good  tidings.*  Hence 
tlie  word  became,  even  among  Romans,  a  kind  of  ex- 
clamation like  our  "  Good  news  !  "  ^  In  later  Greek  it 
meant  the  good  news  actually  delivered.*'  Among  all 
Greek-speaking  Christians — and  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Christian  era  Greek  was  universally  sj)oken  throughout  the 
civilised  world  —  the  word  was  adopted  to  describe  the  best 
and  gladdest  tidings  ever  delivered  to  the  human  race — the 
good  news  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  Naturally  a  word  Avhich 
meant  "  good  news  "  soon  came  to  be  used  as  the  title  of  the 
books  in  which  the  history  of  those  good  tidings  was  con- 
tained.'^    But  in  the  New  Testament  itself  the  word  Gospel 


^  It  is  this  wliicli  gives  to  the  Gospels  their  unique  importance.  Neither 
from  the  classical  writers,  nor  from  Christian  tradition,  nor  from  the  Apocry- 
phal Gospels,  nor  from  the  Fathers,  nor  from  the  Talmud,  do  we  learn  a 
single  new,  certain,  or  valuable  fact  about  the  life  of  Christ.  See  Keim,  Jesu, 
von  Nazara,  i.  8-35. 

-  The  word  "Gospel,"  which  seems  to  have  acquired  currency  from  WyclifT's 
translation,  is  used  by  euphony  for  godspel,  i.e.  news  {spelian,  "  to  tell  ") 
about  God.  So  "gossip"  is  for  "  godsib,"  i.e.  relationship  in  things  per- 
taining to  God  ; "  and  gossamer  for  god-siommcr,  from  the  legend  that  the 
threads  of  gossamer  are  fragments  of  the  Virgin's  winding-sheet  which  fell 
from  her  when  she  was  taken  up  to  heaven  (German  Maricnfciden). 

3  For  instance  in  Homer,  Od.  xiv.  152. 

*  (PovdiTd  i}s  evayyf\ia.     Xen.  Hell.  iv.  3,  s.  14. 

6  "  Evayye\ia  !  Valerius  absolutus  est !  "     Cic.  ad  Ait.  ii.  3. 

6  2  Sam.  xviii.  20  (LXX.)  ;  Is.  Ixi.  1  ;  Lukeiv.  18. 

5'  In  the  address  of  the  Angel  to  the  Shepherds  we  find  the  words  "  /  Iriny 
vmo  good  tidinqs  of  great  joy,"  where  the  verb  used  is  ehayyeKiCotiai.  This 
verb  is  specially  common  in  St.  Luke  and  St.  Paul.  The  substantive  does 
not  occur  in  St.  Luke  In  St.  John  the  only  instance  of  either  veTb  or  sub- 
stantive is  Rev.  xiv.  6  (where  it  does  not  refer  to  the  Gospel).  In  St.  Paul  it 
occurs  sixty-one  times.  From  this  Greek  word  are  derived  the  French 
Evangile,  the  German  Evangdium,  the  Italian  Evangelic,  the  Portuguese 
Evavgelho,  &c. 


6  The  Gospels. 

FouK    always  means  "  the  word  preached,"  and  is  never  used  for  a 

^^^'^-      written  book.^ 

The  language  in  wliich  the  New  Covenant  is  written  is  the 
form  of  Greek  which  was  everywhere  spoken  in  the  first 
century  of  the  Christian  era.  It  was  known  as  the  Mace- 
donian, or  "  common,"  or  Hellenistic  Greek.  The  growth  of 
this  dialect  was  due  to  the  conquests  of  Alexander  the  Great. 
It  was  a  stage  of  the  Greek  language  in  which  decadence  was 
marked  by  a  loss  of  finish  and  synthetic  power.  The  purer 
language  of  the  Athenian  writers  was  largely  mingled  with 
poetic,  Semitic,  and  provincial  words  and  idioms,  due  to  the 
conflux  of  different  forms  of  civilisation  in  the  city  of  Alex- 
andria, in  which  this  "  common  dialect  "  was  mainly  spoken. 
The  rapid  dissemination  of  the  dialect  was  due  in  some 
measure  to  the  large  colonies  of  Jews  engaged  in  mercantile 
pursuits,  who  were  to  be  found  all  along  the  shores  of  the 
Mediterranean  and  in  almost  every  region  of  the  ancient 
world. ^  It  was  a  form  of  speech  simplified  in  grammar  and 
in  the  periodic  structure  of  its  sentences,  but  enriched  in 
vocabulary  by  many  convenient  additions.  What  it  lost  in 
polish  it  gained  in  plasticity.  So  far  from  being,  as  it  has 
been  absurdly  called,  "a  miserable  patois,"  it  made  up  by 
flexibility,  energy,  and  clearness  for  all  that  it  had  resigned 
in  symmetry  and  grace.  In  the  hands  of  Apostles  and 
Evangelists  it  became  an  instrument  of  incomparable  force. 
It  had  been  providentially  prepared  for  their  use  by  the  studies 
and  labours  of  three  centuries.  They  found  ready  to  their 
hands  the  rich  stores  of  religious  and  philosophical  phraseo- 
logy which  had  been  invented  or  adopted  to  express  the 
truths  of  revelation  by  the  Septuagint  translators  of  the 
Old  Testament,  by  the  writings  of  Aristobulus  and  Philo,  by 
the  authors  of  some  of  the  apocryphal  books,  and  by  the 
whole  school  of  Alexandrian  theosophists. 

^  Murk  xiv.  9  ;  2  Cor.  viii.  18  ;  Epli.  iv.  11  ;  Acts  xxi.  8  The  earliest 
.  -  J  use  of  EvayytKiov  for  a  book  is  in  Justin  Jlartyr.  Maicion  gave  the  name 
^(am  '  .     .,  Gosp,.! "  (without  naming  any  author)  to  his  mutilated  St.  Luke. 

"  Cicero,  Pro.  Arch.  10.      "Graeca  leguntur  in  omnibus  fere  gentibus." 


GOSPELS. 


The  Jews,  Greeks,  and  Romans.  7 

Let  us  pause  for  a  moment  to  notice  the  perfectness  of  the  the  four 
"  evangelic  preparation"  by  which  God  marked  "  the  fulness 
of  the  times."  The  Gospel  could  never  have  spread  with  a 
rapidity  so  amazing  but  for  the  concurrence  of  three  vast 
and  world-wide  events,  whereby  God  had  so  ordered  the  world 
of  history  as  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  revelation  of  His  Son. 
Those  three  events  were  the  career  of  Alexander  the  Great, 
the  rise  of  the  Roman  empire,  and  the  dispersion  of  the  Jews. 
The  conquests  of  Alexander  gave  to  the  civilised  world  a 
unity  of  language,  without  which  it  would  have  been,  humanly 
speaking,  impossible  for  the  earliest  teachers  to  make  the 
"  good  tidings  "  known  in  every  land.  The  rise  of  the  Roman 
empire  secured  to  the  nations  a  social  order  and  a  political 
unity  which  protected  and  consolidated  the  growth  of  the  new 
faith.  The  dispersion  of  the  Jews,  tending  to  weaken  still 
further  a  decadent  Paganism,  had  prepared  the  world 
for  a  purer  morality  and  a  monotheistic  faith.  Greeks  and 
Jews  and  Romans  were  the  deadly  enemies  of  early 
Christianity,  yet  the  Gospel  emanated  from  the  capital  of 
Judaea ;  it  was  preached  in  the  tongue  of  Athens';  it  was 
diffused  through  the  empire  of  Rome.  The  tallith  of  Shem, 
according  to  the  aspiration  of  one  of  the  wisest  of  the  rabbis, 
was  thus  united  to  the  pallium  of  Japhet.^  Thus  the  New 
Testament  became  a  cosmopolitan  book — a  book  for  all  ages 
and  all  lands.  Speaking  the  tongue  of  Homer  and  of  Plato 
the  Jewish  preachers  of  a  universal  Christian  redemption 
made  their  way  along  the  undeviating  roads  by  which  the 
Roman  legionaries — "  those  massive  hammers  of  the  whole 
earth  " — had  made  straight  in  the  desert  a  highway  for  our 
God.  Semite  and  Aryan  became  the  unconscious  ministers 
of  a  religion  which  at  first  they  despised,  then  hated,  and 
lastly  feared.  The  Greek  conqueror,  the  Roman  emperor, 
the  Jewish  rabbi,  the  Alexandrian  eclectic— Alexander,  and 

^  "  The  New  Testament,"  says  Dr.  Schaff,  "has  a  Greek  body,  a  Hebrew 
soul,  and  a  Christian  spirit  which  rules  both." — Hist,  of  Apostol.  Church, 
p.  573. 


8  The  Gosijels. 

■HE  FDUK  Augustus,  and  Gamaliel  and  Pliilo — were  alike  engaged  un- 
GosPELs.  consciously,  but  with  momentous  influence,  in  preparing  the 
"  way  of  the  Lord."  The  letters  of  Hebrew  and  Greek  and 
Latin  inscribed  above  the  cross  were  the  prophetic  testimony 
of  the  world's  three  noblest  languages  to  the  undying  claims 
of  Him  who  suffered  to  unite  all  nations  into  the  one  great 
family  of  God. 

Beginning  then  with  the  Gospels,  let  us  see  what  are  the 
first  fapts  which  demand  our  attention. 

i.  We  see  four  separate  books  containing  something  that 
is  peculiar  to  each,  much  that  is  common  to  all ;  of  which 
tradition  says,  and  research — even  the  most  recent  and  the 
most  thorough — goes  far  to  prove,  that  the  three  first  were 
V  written  within  forty ,^  and  the  fourth  within  fifty,  years  of  the 

death  of  Christ.  Each  of  these  professes  to  give  us  some 
account  of  Him.  It  is  probable  that  the  one  which  stands 
first  was  actually  written  first,  but  all  of  them  may  alike 
have  been  preceded  by  fragments  of  written,  as,  from  the 
nature  of  things,  they  were  all  certainly  preceded  by  cycles 
of  oral  teaching.  The  first  then — the  Gospel  according  to 
St,  Matthew — is  the  Gospel  of  God,  the  good  news  or  glad 
tidings  of  Jesus  Christ,  in  the  form  of  delivery  which  St. 
Matthew  adopted.  He  was  by  trade  a  humble  "publican," 
1  not  improbably  a  first  cousin  to  our  Lord  according  to  the 
flesh,  oT  whom  all  that  we  learn  from  the  Bible  is,  that  one 
word  of  Christ  transformed  him  from  a  despised  taxgatherer 
into  a  holy  Apostle.  He  wrote  for  his  fellow-countrymen, 
^  and  perhaps  originally  in  Aramaic.  His  record  of  what  he  had 
seen  of  Jesus  may  have  been  composed  when,  after  long 
living  in  Palestine,  he  left  his  native  country  to  find  in  some 
far  land  his  natural  death  or  his  martyr's  crown. 

The  second  and  third  Gospels  were  written  by  early  disciples; 
— not  by  actual  apostles,  but,  as  St.  Jerome  says,  by  "Apostolic 
men."  St.  Mark  has,  by  a  precarious  conjecture,  been  iden- 
tified with  the  young  man  having  a  linen  sheet  cast  over 
'  See  the  Discourse  on  St.  Matthew  (infra). 


St.  Marh,  St.  Lnhe,  St.  John.  9 

his  naked  body,  who  showed  that  strange  mixture  of  curiosity    the  four 

and  boldness  at  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane,     In  later  years     gospels. 

— though  on  one  occasion  he  wavered  when  he  was  acting  as 

an  attendant  (vir7]peTr]<;,  Acts  xiii.  5)  to  Paul  and  Barnabas — 

lie  became  the  chosen  son  and  companion  of  St.  Peter,  by 

whose  sanction  and  with  whose  aid  his  Gospel  was  probably 

written. 

St.  Luke  was  not  a  Jew  but  a  Gentile.  In  his  Gospel  we 
have  the  Gospel  of  one  who  came  to  Christ  from  Heathendom. 
Tradition  says  that  he  was  a  proselyte  and  physician  of 
Autioch,  and  we  learn  from  his  own  modest  writings  that  he 
was  the  year-long  friend  and  helper  of  St.  Paul  in  his  travels 
and  imprisonment.  He  narrated  the  facts  which  he  diligently 
gathered  from  oral  and  written  sources.  But  he,  too,  like  St. 
Mark,  though  not  an  Apostle,  was  the  representative  of  an 
Apostle,  and  illustrates  the  truths  which  were  most  pro- 
minently taught  by  the  great  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles. 

Lastly,  St.  John  in  his  old  age  at  Ephesus — the  disciple 
whom  Jesus  loved,  who  also  leaned  on  His  breast  at  supper, 
the  last  survivor  of  the  Apostles  as  his  brother  was  their 
earliest  martyr — when  the  first  generation  of  Christians  was 
dead  and  gone,  when  the  Gospel  as  it  was  preached  by 
St.  Matthew,  St.  Peter,  and  St.  Paul  was  already  in  men's 
hands,  when  Jerusalem  was  now  trodden  under  foot  of  the 
Gentiles — under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  left  as  his 
immortal  legacy  to  the  Church  of  God  a  final  picture  of  the 
Redeemer  in  the  record  of  many  discourses  and  many  in- 
cidents, which,  in  the  other  Gospels,  had  been  but  partially 
or  not  at  all  revealed. 

Let  us  note  in  passing  that  the  names  of  the  three  first 
Evangelists  are  little  likely  to  have  suggested  themselves  to 
any  forger.  Any  one  who  desired  to  palm  upon  the  Church 
a  written  Gospel  under  the  shadow  of  some  great  name, 
would  have  attributed  his  work  to  St.  Peter  or  St.  James, 
or  one  of  the  greater  Apostles,  not  to  the  despised  publican,  -p 

the  wavering  deacon,  and  the  Gentile  physician. 


TUE   FOUU 
GOSPELS. 


10  The  Gospels. 

ii.  Now,  as  we  look  at  tliesc  four  Gospels,  one  obvious 
difference  betwe(;n  them  at  once  strikes  the  most  careless 
reader.  It  is  that  St.  Matthew,  St.  Mark,  and  St.  Luke 
are  in  many  respects  like  each  other,  and  in  many  respects 
unlike  St.  John.  The  fir.st  three  dwell  mainly  and  almost 
exclusively  on  Christ's  ministry  in  Galilee;  the  fourth  on 
His  ministry  in  Judca.  The  first  three  only  narrate  at 
length  one  of  His  visits  to  Jerusalem — the  one  which  ended 
in  the  crucifixion  ;  St,  John  gives  us  the  incidents  of  four 
such  visits  previous  to  the  one  in  which  He  was  put  to 
death.  The  first  three  are  occupied  mainly  and  almost  ex- 
clusively with  His  miracles,  parables,  and  addresses  to  the 
multitude;  St.  John,  with  the  higher,  deeper,  more  abstract, 
more  esoteric — and  in  one  or  two  important  instances,  more 
individual  discourses.  The  first  three  give  us  more  of  the 
external  incidents  of  the  life  of  Christ,  and  hence  were  called 
by  some  early  writers  the  bodily  Gospels  (o-co/juaTiKo) ;  the 
fourth,  more  of  its  inmost  spiritual  meaning.^  The  first  three 
are,  to  use  a  convenient  modern  term,  more  objective ;  the 
fourth,  more  subjective.  The  first  three  deal  more  with 
action  ;  St.  John  with  contemplation.  The  first  three  speak 
more  of  the  labour  and  of  the  way ;  the  fourth,  more  of  the 
rest  and  of  the  home.  Hence  the  first  three  are  called  the 
Synoptists,  because  one  tabular  view  can  be  given  of  their 
narratives  ;  ^  the  fourth  stands  in  many  respects  apart.  Once 
more,  the  first  three  are  more  fragmentary  than  the  fourth. 
The  first  three  "  may  be  compared  to  a  succession  of  jjictures, 

^  The  remark  tliat  St.  John's  is  the  spiritual  Gospel  (wifvfMaTiKov)  ia  as  old 
as  Clement  of  Alexandria  {ap.  Euseb.,  H.  E.  iii.  24). 

2  The  Greek  word  Synopsis  has  the  same  meaning  as  the  Latin  Conspcctua, 
viz,  "  a  collective  view."  The  first  three  Evangelists  are  called  "  Synoptists  " 
because  their  Gosi)els  can  bo  arranged  and  harmonised,  section  by  section,  in 
a  tabular  form,  since  they  are  mainly  based  on  a  common  outline.  The  term 
appears  to  be  (juite  modern,  but  has  been  rapidly  brought  into  general  use 
since  its  adoption  by  Griesbach.  See  Holtzinann  in  Schenkel,  Bihcl- Lexicon, 
8.V.  Evangelien  ;  and  Ebrard  in  Herzog,  s.v.  Harmonic.  I  am  not  aware  of 
any  earlier  use  of  tlie  word  "Synopsis,"  as  ajiplied  to  a  tabular  view  of  the 
first  three  Gospels,  than  Georgii  Sigelii  Synopsis  historiac  Jcs.  Ckristi  quemad- 
modnm  Matthanix,  Marcus,  Lucas,  descriiiserc  in  forma  tabulae  proposita. 
Noribergae.     1585.     Folio. 


The  Synoptists  and  St.  John.  11 

in  which  a  painter  represents  a  complete  history;"  the  fourth    the  foui 
produces  the  effect  of  a  more  ideal  unity .^  gosi'els. 

But  the  fact  that  the  Gospels  are,  to  borrow  the  phrase  of 
St.  Augustine,  "  various,  not  contrary,"  is  a  distinct  advantage. 
They  thus  become,  as  it  were,  the  sacred  stereoscope  which 
sets  before  us  the  life  of  our  Saviour,  not  in  its  bare  surface, 
but  in  its  living  solidity.  If  we  had  only  possessed  the  three 
first  we  should  have  known  much  about  our  Lord,  but  not  the 
whole.  "  The  Synoptic  Gospels  contain  the  Gospel  of  the 
Infant  Church,  that  of  St.  John,  the  Gospel  of  its  maturity." 
They  give  us,  for  the  world,  the  experience  and  origin  of  a 
society ;  St.  John  gives  us,  for  the  Church,  the  inspired  in- 
tuitions of  a  disciple.^ 

There  is  contrast  between  them,  but  no  contradiction.^  In 
Greek  literature  we  have  two  widely  divergent  records  of 
Socrates,  but  we  know  him  all  the  more  thoroughly  from  the 
different  way  in  which  his  personality  affected  the  minds  of 
two  men  so  unlike  each  other  as  the  busy,  active,  and 
practical  soldier,  and  the  deep-souled,  poet-philosopher. 
Xenophon  sketches  for  us  the  outer  life  of  Socrates,  Plato 
gives  us  an  idealisation  of  his  inmost  spirit.  The  Synoptists, 
it  has  been  truly  said,  furnish  us  with  pictures  like  those 
three  separate  portraits  of  Charles  I.  which  Vandyke  pre- 
pared for  the  sculptor  who  was  to  reproduce  in  marble  the 
very  man.*  We  may  borrow  an  analogy  from  the  physical 
world,  and  say  that  the  first  three  Evangelists  give  us  divers 
aspects  of  one  glorious  landscape  ;  St.  John  pours  over  that 
landscape  a  Hood  of  heavenly  sunshine  which  seems  to  trans- 
form its  very  character,  though  every  feature  of  the  landscape 

-  Holtzinann  in  the  Protestantcn  Bihcl  (Enf;.  Trans,  i.  40).  The  fragraen- 
tariuuss  of  tlie  synoptical  memoirs  is  illustrated  by  the  fact  already  mentioned, 
that  they  confine  themselves  almost  exclusively  to  the  Galilean  ministry, 
tliough  tliey  were  well  aware  of  the  ministry  in  Judaea  (Matt.  xxi.  8,  9  ;  xxiii. 
37  ;  xxvii.  57,  Ac). 

-  Westcott,  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  the  Gospels,  p.  197. 

'^  "  Per  hujusmodi  evangelistarum  locutiones  varicuscd  non  contrarins  disci- 
mus  nihil  in  ciijusque  verbis  nos  inspicere  debere  nisi  voluntatem." — Aug. 
De  Consens.  Evang.  ii.  28. 

*  Westcott,  Introd.  p.  234. 


12  The  Gospels. 

THE  FOUR  remains  the  same.  Their  circumstantial  differences  recall  the 
GOSPELS,  variety  of  Nature;  their  substantial  agreement  resembles 
its  marvellous  and  essential  unity.  For  the  object  of  each 
and  all  of  the  Gospels  is  that  expressed  by  St.  John,  "  that 
ye  might  believe  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ  the  Son  of 
God,  and  that  believing  ye  might  have  life  through  His 
name."  ^ 

iii.  Hence  the  Church  has  always  been  thankful  for  the 
fact  that  "holy  men  of  old,  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost,"  have 
left  us  four  separate,  and  mainly,  if  not  absolutely,  inde- 
pendent Gospels.  We  are  tlms  furnished  Avith  such  a 
weight  of  contemporaneous  testimony  as  is  wanting  to  the 
great  majority  of  events  in  Ancient  History.  A  fourfold 
cord  is  not  easily  broken.^ 

Early  Christian  writers  comj^ared  the  Gospels  to  that  river 
which,  flowing  out  of  Eden  to  water  the  Garden  of  God,  was 
parted  into  four  heads,  compassing  lands  of  Avhich  the  gold 

'  John  XX,  31. 

^  It  is  no  part  of  my  purpose  to  enter  iu  detail  into  the  qiiestion  of  the 
authenticity  or  even  the  canonicity  of  the  various  books  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. To  attempt  this  would  require  a  volume,  and  the  task  has  already  been 
most  admirably  performed  by  many  abler  scholars.  I  may  refer  the  reader  to 
two  English  books — Dr.  "Westcott,  On  the  Canon  of  the  New  Testament,  and 
Dr.  Charteris,  On  Canonicity  (which  is  based  on  Kirchhofer's  Quellcnsamm- 
hing),  as  well  as  to  the  widely  different  views  taken  by  Dr.  Davidson  in  his 
Inlroduction.  I  may,  however,  mention  the  remarkable  confirmation  to  the 
early  date  of  the  Gospels,  and  therefore  the  refutation  of  the  theories  of  the 
Tiibingen  school,  and  of  many  German  scholars,  which  results  from  a  recent 
discovery.  The  Mechitarist  Fathers  at  Venice  have  published  a  translation 
Irom  the  Armenian  of  a  commentary  by  Ephraem  Syrus  in  the  fourth  century 
on  the  work  known  as  the  Diatessaron  of  Tatian.  From  this  it  is  finally  clear 
that  Tatian's  Harmony  was  a  close  weaving  together  of  our  four  present 
Gospels.  Now  Tatian  was  a  disciple  of  Justin  Jlartyr,  and  the  ifact  that  the 
Gospels  had  already  in  his  day  {circ.  A.D.  160)  received  an  exclusive  recognition, 
entirely  refutes  the  hyjiothesis  of  many  that,  in  their  present  form,  several 
of  them  are  not  older  than  the  middle  of  the  second  century.  Thus  Barn- 
refers  the  Gospel  of  St.  JIatthew  to  A.D.  130-134,  and  Volkmar  places  it  not 
earlier  than  a.d.  105.  Irenaeus  is  now  proved  to  have  been  mucli  nearer  the 
mark  when  he  placed  it  A.n.  G4  {Hoar.  iii.  s.  1).  The  testimonies  of  Papias, 
Irenaeus,  Tertullian,  of  the  Muratorian  Canon,  and  of  Clemens  of  Alexandria, 
to  say  nothing  of  Justin  JIartyr,  show  how  early  the  Gospels  had  acquired  a 
position  of  supreme  authority.  But,  apart  from' this,  the  undisputed  Epistles 
of  St.  Paul,  as  M'cU  as  those  of  St.  James,  and  the  First  of  St.  Peter,  and  the 
Epistle  to  tlie  Hebrews,  are  sufficient  to  confirm  the  Gospels  in  every  important 
particular. 


Cherubic  Emblems.  13 

is  good,  and  which  liave  bdellium  and  the  onyx-stone.^  But 
a  still  commoner  symbol  of  the  Evangelists  is  that  derived 
from  the  four  living  creatures,  "the  fourfold- visaged  four" — 
the  cherubim  which  form  the  chariot  of  the  Lord  in  the  Vision 
of  Ezekiel  by  the  river  Chebar.^  In  almost  every  church 
you  find,  somewhere  depicted,  the  four  symbols  of  the  Evan- 
gelists— the  man  or  angel  for  St.  Matthew;  the  lion  of 
St.  Mark ;  the  calf  of  St.  Luke  ;  the  eagle  for  St.  John. 
The  man  was  chosen  as  the  emblem  of  St.  Matthew  because 
he  brings  out  Christ's  kingly  and  human  character  j^  the 
lion  for  St.  Mark,  from  the  strength  and  energy  of  his 
delineation ;  *  the  ox  for  St,  Luke,  because  he  indicates 
Christ's  priestly  and  mediatorial  office  ;  ^  the  eagle  for  St. 
John,  because  "  he  soars  to  heaven  above  the  clouds  of 
human  infirmity,  and  reveals  to  us  the  mysteries  of  the 
Godhead,  and  the  felicities  of  Eternal  Life,  gazing  on  the 


^  "  Paradisi  Lie  fluenta 
Nova  fluunt  sacraraenta 

Quae  descendunt  coelitus : 
His  quadrigis  deportatur 
Mundo  Deus,  sublimatur 
Istis  area  vectibns." 

Adam  de  S.  Victork. 
-  Ezuli.  i.  5-26.     As  early  as  Trenaeiis  we  find  the  expression  "the  four- 
shaped    Gospel."      Adv.   Haer.    iii.    11,    S.    8.      rerpafiopcpov  rh  evayyeXwv,  ev} 
irufvfiaTi  (rwex'^M"""'.     He  fancifully  dwells  on  the  nnmber  four  as  that  of  the 
four  winds  and  the  four  elements.      Adam  of  St.  Victor  says  : — 
**  Circa  thema  generale 
Habet  quisque  speciale 

Styli  privilegium, 
Quod  praesignat  in  propheta 
Forma  pictus  sub  discreta 
Vultus  animalium." 
Dante  symbolises  them  as — 

"quatt7-o  am'mali 
Coronato  ciascirn  di  verde  fronda," 
Purgnt.  xxix.  93.     The  green  leaves  which  crown  the  four  living  creatures  are 
emblems  of  the  leaves  of  the  Tree  of  Life. 

'  In  the  oldest  mosaics  the  type  is  human  (l^earded),  not  angelic. 
■*  According  to  some  because  St.  Mark  was  specially  the  historian  of  the 
Eesurrectinn,  and  the  mediaeval  notion  was  that  young  lions  were  born  dead 
and  vivified  by  the  parent  lion's  roar  in  three  days.  Rupert  of  Deutz  in 
Apoc.  iv.,  and  Mark  xvi.  16,  connects  it  with  the  terribleness  of  this  Gospel, 
beginning  with  the  voice  "crying"  (rugicns)  in  the  wilderness,  and  ending 
with  a  curse. 

*  The  ox  being  the  emblem  of  sacrifice. 


THE  FOUR 
GOSPELS, 


G0SPEL8. 


14  The  Gofipeh. 

THE  FouK  light  of  immiitablo  truth  -with  a  keen  and  steady  ken."  ^ 
This,  then,  is  why  the  Gospels  are  compared  to  the  Vision 
of  the  Four  at  tlie  river  of  Chebar.  "  Like  them  the  Gospels 
are  Four  in  number ;  like  them  they  are  the  Chariot  of  God 
Who  sitteth  between  the  Cherubim ;  like  them,  they  bear 
Him  on  a  winged  throne  into  all  lands ;  like  them,  they  move 
wherever  the  Spirit  guides  them  :  like  them  they  are  mar- 
vellously joined  together,  intertwined  with  coincidences  and 
dififerences  ;  wing  interwoven  with  wing,  and  wheel  inter- 
woven with  wheel :  like  them  they  are  full  of  eyes,  and 
sparkle  with  heavenly  light :  like  them  they  sweep  from 
heaven  to  earth,  and  from  earth  to  heaven,  and  fly  with 
lightning  speed  and  with  the  noise  of  many  waters.  Their 
sound  is  gone  out  into  all  lands  and  their  ivords  to  the  end  of 
the  world."  ^ 

Whatever  may  be  the  archaeological  and  artistic  interest 
of  these  universal  symbols,  it  must  be  admitted  that  they 
are  fanciful  and  arbitrary ;  and  this  is  rendered  more  obvious 
from  the  varying  manner  in  which  they  used  to  be  employed 
and  justified.  But  as  there  is  no  element  of  mere  fancy  in 
what  has  been  already  said  as  to  the  value  of  having  four 
Gospels,  and  as  to  the  differences  between  St.  John  and  the 
three  who  had  preceded  him,  so  there  will  be  none  in  the 

^  Aug.  Dc  Conscvs.  Evang.  i.  The  union  of  the  four  emblems  into  one 
figure  was  called  "  the  Tetramorph,"  or  Animal  Eedesiae.  Calvin,  in  a  stjle 
not  usual  with  him,  compares  tlie  Gospels  to  a  four-horsed  triumphal  chariot 
— the  quadriga  of  Christ. 

2  Wordsworth,  Greek  Test.,  The  Four  Gospels,  p.  xli.  The  first  instance  of 
this  .symbolism  is  found  in  Irenaeus  {Adv.  Ilaer.  iii.  11,  s.  8),  who,  however, 
assigns  the  eagle  to  St.  Mark  and  the  lion  to  St.  John.  St.  Augustine  assigns 
the  lion  to  St.  Matthew,  the  mun  to  St.  !Mark  {De  Consem.  Evang.  i.  6). 
Pseudo-Athanasius  again  {Synopsis  Script.)  assigns  the  ox  to  St.  Slark,  the 
lion  to  St.  Luke.  The  distribution  sanctioned  by  St.  Jerome  is  that  which  has 
finally  prevailed.  "  Prima  hominis  facies  Matthaeum  significat  qui  quasi 
de  homine  exorsus  est  scribere  Liber  generationis  Jesu  Christi,  filii  David,  filii 
Abraham.  Secunda  Marcum  in  quo  vox  leonis  rugientis  in  eremo  auditur 
(Mark  i.  3).  Tertia  Vituli  quae  Kvangclistam  Luoam  a  Zacharia  sacerdote 
initium  sumpsisse  praefigurat.  Quarta  Evangelistam  Joannom  qui  assumtis 
pennis  aquilae,  et  ad  altiora  fcstiiians,  de  Verbo  Dei  disputat."  Pracf. 
in  Comment.  Ev.  Matth.  (See  Lange,  Lcben  Jesu,  i.  156  ;  Mrs.  Jameson, 
Sacred  and  Legendarx)  Art,  i.  132-143  ;  Schaff,  Hist,  of  Christian  Church, 
585  5S9.) 


THE   FOUR 


St.  Matthew.  15 

brief  preliminary    sketch  which  will  now    be  given  of  the 

main  characteristics  of  each  separate  Gospel.^  gospels. 

1.  St.  Matthew  wrote  in  Judaea,  and  possibly  wrote  his 
earliest  sketch  of  the  Discourses  of  Christ  in  the  Jewish 
language,  though  in  that  case,  it  is  obvious  for  critical 
reasons,  that  he  must  himself,  at  a  later  period,  have  trans- 
lated his  work  into  Greek.  This  very  fact  goes  far  to  illus- 
trate the  specialities  of  his  Gospel.  It  is  the  Gospel  for 
the  Jews ;  it  is  the  Gospel  of  the  past ;  it  is  the  Gospel  of 
Jesus  as  the  Messiah.  It  is  the  Gospel  which  reflects  the  tone 
of  mind  which  prevailed  in  the  Church  of  Jerusalem  among 
the  "  Hebrews  of  the  Hebrews  "  headed  by  James  the  Lord's 
brother,  whose  Epistle  recalls  most  frequently  the  first  Gospel, 
especially  its  record  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  That  it  is 
the  Gospel  for  the  Jews  appears  in  the  very  first  words,  "  the 
book  of  the  generation  of  Jesus  Christ  the  son  of  David,  the 
son  of  Abraham  "; — the  son  of  David,  and  therefore  the  heir  to 
the  Jewish  kingdom  ;  the  son  of  Abraham,  and  therefore  the 
heir  of  the  Jewish  promise.  That  it  is  the  Gospel  of  the  past 
appears  in  the  constant  formula — the  refrain  as  it  were — 
"that  it  might  be  fulfilled,"  which  recurs  on  nearly  every 
page  of  the  book.  This  Gospel  contains  no  less  than  sixty-five 
quotations  from  the  Old  Testament  ;  nearly  three  times 
more  than  those  in  any  other  Gospel.  Even  in  the  first 
two  chapters  the  Evangelist  sees  in  five  incidents  of  the 
infancy  of  Jesus  the  fulfilment  of  five  ancient  prophecies. 
Another  point  is  that  this  Gospel  is  mainly  didactic,  being 
marked  by  five  great  continuous  discourses — the  Sermon  on  v.  vii. 
the  Mount;  the  Address  to  the  Apostles;  the  Parables  on  x. 
the  "  Kingdom  of  the  Heavens,"  a  Jewish  phrase  peculiar  to 
St.  Matthew;  the  Discourse  on  the  Church;  and  the  Discourses  ^"?:. 
on  Judgment ; — these  discourses  all  bearing  on  the  work  of  xxiii.-  xxv. 

^  Tlicse  generic  peculiarities  were  very  early  noticed.     Thus  in  the  Carmen 
of  St.  Gregory  of  Nazianzus  we  lind  : — 

MarOaios  fiev  typa^ev  'KI3paiots  Oaiifxara  Xpicrrov, 

MdpKos  5'  'iToAir;,  AovKas  'AxadSr}, 
Tlaffi  5'  'ludvvTjs  Krjpv^  fj.4yas  ovpavo(poiTr]i. 


THE   FOUR 
GOSPELS. 


16  The  Gospels. 

the  Messiah  as  Lawgiver,  as  Judge,  and  as  King.  The 
Gospel  of  St.  Matthew  Avas  then  as  it  were  "  the  ultimatum 
of  Jehovah  to  His  ancient  people :  recognise  Jesus  as  your 
Messiah,  or  accept  Him  as  your  Judge."  ^ 

2.  St,  Mark  is  said  to  have  written  in  Roine  for  Latins. 
It  is  a  very  natural  supposition  that  when  St,  Peter  was  in 
his  Roman  prison,  awaiting  death,  the  Roman  Christians 
asked  Mark  to  preserve  for  them  the  great  Apostle's  reminis- 
cences of  the  life  of  the  Lord.  Hence  St,  Mark's  Gospel 
corresponds  to  the  character  of  him  who  first  made  the  great 
confession.  It  is  the  Gospel  of  the  present ;  the  Gospel  for 
the  practical  Roman  world ;  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  as  Lord  of 
human  society.  It  is  the  Gospel  which  reflects  the  tone  of 
mind  prevalent  in  that  moderate  section  of  the  Jewish- 
Christian  Church  of  which  St,  Peter  was  the  acknowledged 
head.  So  completely  does  the  Evangelist  represent  the  views 
of  St.  Peter  that  St.  Peter's  speech  to  Cornelius,  in  Acts  x.,  has 
been  called  "  the  Gospel  of  St.  Mark  in  a  nutshell."  If  St, 
Matthew's  is  the  didactic  Gospel,  or  the  Gospel  of  popular 
discourses,  St.  Mark's  is  the  anecdotical ;  the  Gospel  of  ener- 
getic incident. 

It  is  a  book  of  Apostolic  memoirs,^  and  is  marked  by  the 
graphic  vividness  which  reflects  the  memory  of  an  eye- 
Avitness.  It  is  the  Gospel  which,  apart  from  any  special 
references   to  theology  or  to  prophecy,  simply  describes  in 

1  Godet,  Bible  Studies,  Eng.  Trans,  p.  23.  "VVe  shall  see  hereafter  that 
St.  Matthew's  point  of  view  is  so  little  exclusive  that  he  can  admit  passages 
which  point  to  the  evanescence  of  the  law  and  the  universality  of  the  Gospel 
(ix.  16  ;  xii.  7,  8  ;  xiii.  31  sq.  ;  xxvii,  19,  &c.).  It  should  be  carefully  borne 
in  mind  that  these  characteristics  are  merely  general  and  relative.  It  is  not 
meant  that  the  Evangelists  represent  our  Blessed  Lord  cxchisively,  but  only 
predominant! u,  under  the  aspects  here  mentioned.  It  must  not  be  supposed 
that  any  one  of  the  Evangelists  wrote  with  a  deliberate  subjective  bias. 
They  dealt  with  facts  not  theories,  and  in  no  way  altered  those  facts  in  the 
interests  of  any  special  view.  They  neither  did,  nor  could,  invent  or  create  ; 
it  was  their  sole  duty  to  record.  It  is  only  from  the  grouping  of  facts, 
and  from  the  prominence  given  to  particular  incidents  or  expressions  through- 
out the  several  Gospels,  that  we  deduce  the  ruling  conceptions  of  the  inspired 
^vriters.  St.  Augustim^'s  expression  that  they  wrote  "ut  quisque  meniinerat 
et  ut  cuique  cordi  erat  "  (De  Consens.  Evang.  ii.  5)  is  not  a  very  happy  one. 

'  ' Airofii'Tiij.oi>(viJ.aTa,  .Tust.  Mart,  Dial,  103, 


St.  Luke's  Gospel.  17 

brief  and  startling  succession,  onr  Lord's  deeds  as  He  lived,    the  four 
and  moved  among  men.  gospels. 

3.  St.  Luke  on  the  other  hand  wrote  in  Greece,  for  the 
bright,  clever,  affable  Greek  world.  Hence  his  Gospel  is 
in  its  language  the  most  accurate,  in  its  order  the  most  his- 
torical and  artistic.^  It  is  the  first  volume  of  a  great 
narrative,  tracing  the  victorious  advance  of  Christianity  from 
Galilee  to  Jerusalem,  from  Jerusalem  to  Antioch,  from  Antioch 
on  its  westward  course  to  Eome.  It  reflects  the  tone  of  mind 
which  was  prevalent  in  the  school  of  St.  Paul,  It  is  the  univer- 
sal Gospel  of  the  Gentile  convert.^  It  does  not  deal  with  the 
yearnings  of  the  past,^  or  with  the  glory  of  the  present,  but 
with  the  aspirations  of  the  future.^  It  paints  Christ's  Gospel 
not  as  the  fulfilment  of  Prophecy,  or  as  "  the  Kingdom  of 
the  Age,"  but  as  the  satisfaction  of  our  moral  cravings ;  it 
describes  Jesus  to  us,  not  as  the  Jewish  Messiah,  or  the  Univer- 
sal Lord,  but  as  the  Saviour  of  sinners.  One  of  its  keynotes 
is  "My  spirit  hath  rejoiced  in  God  my  Saviour."  It  is  a 
Gospel,  not  national,  but  universal ;  not  regal,  but  human. 
It  is  the  Gospel,  "  cleansed  from  the  leprosy  of  castes,"  and 
the  blindness  of  limitations.  It  is  the  Gospel  for  sinners, 
for  Samaritans,  for  Gentiles.  It  is  "  the  revelation  of  divine 
mercy ; "  it  is  "  the  manifestation  of  divine  philanthropy." 
It  is  Christianity  for  man. 

4.  It  might  then  have  been  imagined  that  the  three  Synoptic 
Gospels   had   exhausted    the   possible    aspects   of    dawning 

^  The  word  KaOe^^s,  "  in  order,"  is  peculiar  to  his  wi'itings. 

2  Hence  he  omits  particulars  (e.g.  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount)  which 
would  have  been  less  intelligible  to  Greek  readers,  and  substitutes  'ETncrrdTT)? 
or  At5d(XKa\os  ("  Master  "  or  "  Teacher  ")  for  Kabbi ;  "lawyer"  for  "scribe  ; " 
"yea"  or  "verily  "  for  "  Amen  ; "  the  Greek  <p6pos  for  the  Latin  census;  the 
Lake  for  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  &c. 

3  Thus  St.  Luke  has  only  twenty-four  Old  Testament'quotations  as  against 
sixty-five  of  St.  Matthew,  and  (except  iv.  18,  19)  none  which  are  peculiar  to 
himself,  except  in  the  first  two  (i.  17-25,  ii.  23,  24)  and  the  22nd  and  23rd 
chapters  (xxii.  37,  xxiii.  31,  46). 

•■*  Yet  St.  Luke  never  excludes  passages  which  speak  of  the  spiritual  per- 
petuity of  the  Law  (xvi.  17)  and  obedience  to  it  (ii.  22  sq.,  v.  14,  &c.).  See 
too  i.  32,  ii.  49,  xix.  46,  xxii.  30.  This  is  of  course  due  to  the  fact  that  the 
Evangelists  were  primarily  faithful  recorders,  and  were  never  led  into  dishonest 
suppression  by  party  bias. 

G 


■IlIF,   FOUK 


18  The  Gospels. 

Christianity,  It  might  be  asked  wliat  remains?  One 
infinite  thing  remains,  Eternity;  the  wants  of  the  spiritual 
reason.  St.  John  drops  the  great  keystone  into  the  soaring 
arch  of  Christian  revelation,  Avhen  he  represents  Christ,  neither 
as  Messiah  only,  nor  King  only,  nor  even  as  Saviour  only, 
but  as  the  Incarnate  Word  ;  as  Christ,  the  Life  and  Light  of 
men,  the  pre-existent  and  Eternal  Son  of  God  ;  not  only  as  the 
Son  of  Man  who  ascended  into  heaven,  but  as  the  Son  of  God, 
who  descended  from  heaven  to  sanctify  the  world.  The 
whole  circle  of  Gospel  Revelation  is  as  it  were  rounded  into 
a  flawless  symbol  of  eternity,  when  St.  John  was  inspired  to 
write  that  "  In  the  beginning  was  the  Word,  and  the  Word 
was  with  God,  and  the  Word  was  God.  And  the  Word  was 
made  flesh,  and  dwelt  among  us,  and  we  beheld  His  glory, 
the  glory  as  of  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father,  full  of  grace 
and  truth." 

We  may  thus  sum  up  these  large,  though  neither  exclusive 
nor  exhaustive  generalisations. 

St.  Matthew  wrote  in  Judaea  for  the  Jews.  His  is  the  Gospel 
of  the  Past,  the  Gospel  which  sees  in  Christianity  a  fulfil- 
ment of  Judaism,  the  Gospel  of  discourses,  the  didactic 
Gospel,  the  Gospel  in  which  Christ  is  represented  to  us  as 
primarily  the  Messiah  of  the  Jew. 

St.  Mark  wrote  in  Italy  for  the  Romans.  His  is  the  Gospel 
of  the  Present ;  the  Gospel  of  incident ;  the  anecdotical 
Go.spel;  the  Gospel  which  represents  Christ  as  the  strong 
Son  of  God  and  Lord  of  the  World. 

St.  Luke  wrote,  perhaps  in  Corinth,  for  the  Greeks.  His 
is  the  Gospel  of  the  Future ;  the  Gospel  of  progressive 
Christianity ;  the  Gospel  of  Universal  and  free  Salvation ; 
the  Historic  Gospel ;  the  Gospel  for  Sinners ;  the  Gospel 
of  Jesus  as  the  Good  Physician  and  the  Saviour  of 
Mankind. 

St.  John  wrote  in  Ephesus  for  all  Christians.  His  is  pre- 
eminently the  Gospel  for  the  Church  :  the  Gospel  of  Eternity ; 
the  spiritual  Gospel ;  the  Gospel  for  the  devout  and  thought- 


General  Characteristics.  19 

ful  discii^le ;  the  Gospel  of  Clirist  as  the  Eternal  Sou,  and 
the  Incarnate  Word. 

"  Matthew,"  says  Godet,  "  groups  together  doctrinal  teach- 
ings in  the  form  of  great  discourses  ;  he  is  a  preacher.  Mark 
narrates  events  as  they  occur  to  his  mind ;  he  is  a  chronicler. 
Luke  reproduces  the  external  and  internal  development  of 
events  ;  he  is  the  historian  properly  so  called."  St.  John,  we 
may  add,  gives  the  inmost  spirit  and  meaning  of  the  facts 
which  he  narrates ;  he  is  the  philosopher  and  the  divine. 

Now  to  make  our  conceptions  of  the  difterent  books  of  the 
Bible  clear  and  definite,  and  to  fix  them  in  our  memories, 
it  is  often  very  desirable,  when  it  is  possible,  to  choose  for  each 
book  one  characteristic  and  typical  phrase  or  sentence  by 
which  it  is  definitely  marked,  and  I  think  that  we  can  do 
this  in  the  case  of  the  four  Gospels. 

The  characteristic  phrase  fur  St.  Matthew  is  "  that  the  say- 
ing might  he  fulfilled"  which  occurs  some  thirteen  times  in 
his  Gospel ;  tlie  inmost  idea  of  his  Gospel  is  expressed  in  the 
sentences,  "  This  is  Jesus,  the  King  of  the  Jews,"  and  "  I  am 
not  come  to  destroy  but  to  fulfil." 

The  central  conception  of  Mark  might  be  summed  up  by 
"Jesus  Christ  the  Son  of  God"  or  "  What  is  this?  A  new 
teaching  !  With  authority  He  commands  even  the  unclean 
spirits  and  they  obey  Him."  A  characteristic  of  the  startling 
rapidity  and  energetic  brevity  of  his  Gospel  is  furnished  by 
the  words  "  and  immediately  "  Avhich  occur  in  him  no  less 
than  forty-two  times,  whereas  they  occur  but  three  times  in 
the  much  longer  Gospel  of  St.  John. 

The  sentences  which  we  might  choose  as  most  characteristic 
of  the  joyous  and  sympathetic  tenderness  of  St.  Luke,  are 
"  Who  went  about  doing  good"  (Acts  x.  38),  or  "  A  Saviour 
ivhieh  is  Christ  the  Lord"  (ii.  ll.y 

1  Tliis  verse  describes  the  actual  tror/c  of  Jesus  as  set  forth  in  the  Gospel. 
The  general  idea  of  the  Gospel  itself  may  be  seen  in  i.  77.  rod  Sovvat  yvaoaiv 
<j-a>Ti]pias  TCfi  \aw  avrov  iv  acjjeVeu  afxapriwu  avrwi',  and  xxiv.  47,  Koi  KT}pvx6v^ai 
(irl  Tw  ovofxari  aCroxJ  |XtTdvoiav  Kal  d<{)£<riv  duaprwov  eis  ircu/ra  to.  tdvr},  dp^d- 
fxivov  d-nh  '\ipou(ja\i)ij.. 

c  2 


THE    FOUR 
GOSPELS. 


20  The  Gospels. 

THE  Fouu  The  motto  for  St.  John — indicative  of  the  depth  of  view 
GOSPELS,  -^yiiich  pervades  all  his  Gospel — could  only  be  the  four  most 
marvellous  and  epoch-making  words  ever  written,  words 
which  concentrate  into  themselves  long  centuries  of  divine 
history  and  world-wide  speculations,  "  The  Word  hecame 
fieshr 

The  extent  to  which  the  differences  which  we  have  pointed 
out  were  felt  and  recognised  is  curiously  illustrated  by  the 
preference  given  to  one  or  other  of  the  Gospels  by  different 
sects  of  heretics. 

Thus,  St,  Matthew's  Gospel  was,  as  we  might  have  expected, 
the  favourite  of  the  sects  of  Jewish  Christians;  of  the 
Nazarenes,  with  their  limited  and  imperfect  conceptions  of 
Christian  truth,  and  the  Ebionites,  with  their  denial  of  the 
supernatural  birth  of  Christ. 

St.  Mark  was  preferred  by  the  followers  of  Cerinthus,  the 
Docetae  and  other  sects  who  made  a  distinction  between  the 
human  Jesus  and  the  Divine  Christ.^ 

St.  Luke's — or  rather  a  mutilated  version  of  it — was  the 
chosen  Gospel  of  the  ]\Iarcionites,  who  were  the  most  ex- 
travagant of  the  an ti- Judaic  followers  of  St.  Paul. 

St.  John's  Gospel,  with  its  mystic  depths,  was  the  accepted 
Gospel  of  the  Valentinians,  and  other  philosophising  Gnostic 
sects. 

The  four  Gospels  are  meant  to  show  us  what  Christ  was, 
and  what  He  meant  us  to  be ;  and  what  the  salvation  was 
wherewith  He  saved  us  from  sin,  and  from  Satan,  and  from 
ourselves. 

If  we  desire  to  realise  their  inner  unity  we  must  find  it 
in  ourselves.  We  shall  need  no  further  verification  of  their 
general  testimony  if  we  put  on  the  new  man  which  after 
Christ  Jesus  is  created  in  righteousness  and  true  holiness. 
When  we  have  learnt  to  read  those  books  aright  we  shall  find 
their  harmony  in  thoughts  purified,  in  lives  ennobled  by  the 
spirit  of  Christ.     The  glad  tidings  will  help  to  dissipate  our 

^  Iran.  Ilacr.  iii.  11,  §  7. 


How  to  read  the  Gosjjels.  21 

sadness  and  brighten  our  discouragements.     We  shall  look    the  foue 

upon  ourselves  more  hopefully ;  and  we  shall  look  upon  our     gospels. 

fellow  men  with  more  of  patience  and  of  tenderness,  because 

we  shall  then  regard  both  ourselves  and  them  in  the  light  of 

those   words   into  which  surely   the  spirit   of  all   the   four 

Gospels   may  be  compressed — as   souls — "for  whom  Christ 

died." 


22  The  Gospels. 


NOTE  I. 

THE   ORIGIN   OF  THE   GOSPELS, 

The  main  phenomenon  presented  by  tlie  Synoptists,  when  wq  read 
tliem  side  by  side,  is  the  coexistence  of  minute  resemblances  ■with  wide 
divergence. 

a.  The  resemblances  extend  even  to  sliglit  peculiarities  of  language 
such  as  the  rare  and  dubious  word  iiriovcnos  "  daily ''  in  the  Lord's  prayer  ; 
the  use  of  the  diminutive  wtIov  "  little  ear  "  (John  xviii.  10  ;  Matt.  xxvi. 
51  ;  Luke  xxii.  51)  ;  the  curious  adverb  Suo-koXws  to  mean  "with  diffi- 
culty" (Matt.  xix.  23  ;  Mark  x.  23  :  Luke  xviii.  24)  ;  the  irregular  Doric 
form  of  the  perfect  passive  d^ecoirai  (Matt.  ix.  2  ;  Mark  ii.  5  ;  Luke 
V.  20)  ;  the  double  augment  in  CmfKareaTaOr)  (Matt.  xii.  13  ;  Mark  iii. 
5  ;  Luke  vi.  10).  Too  much  importance  has  been  attached  to  these 
minute  resemblances.  The  reading  a</)e'coi'rat  is  in  some  MSS.  replaced  by 
dfpUvTM.  'EiTLovaios  is  probably  a  Greek  attempt  to  translate  the  Hebrew 
"inro  (^  eTTLova-afjfiepa  "to-morrow,"  see  Prov.  xxvii.  1,  LXX.)  ;  the  double 
Doric  augment  in  some  tenses  of  aTroKadia-Trjfii  is  widely  diffused,  and 
diminutives  were  common  in  Hellenistic  Greek. 

But  apart  from  these  minor  resemblances,  the  same  forms  of  expression 
constantly  recur  in  passages  which  in  other  respects  diverge  considerably 
from  each  other.  The  verbal  agreement  is  chiefly — to  the  extent  of  seven- 
eighths — in  the  report  of  words  ;  the  divergences  are  chiefly  in  the 
narratives.     This  is  exactly  what  we  should  expect. 

/3.  The  differences  extend  to  the  transposition  of  whole  sections  ;  the 
omission  of  entire  discourses  ;  the  insertion  of  long  narratives  ;  the 
statement  of  facts  in  a  way  which  Avould  lead  to  nustaken  inferences 
unless  such  inferences  were  corrected  by  data  derived  from  the  other 
narrators. 

These  facts  have  been  minutely  examined.  It  has  been  ascertained 
by  Stroud  that  "if  the  total  contents  of  the  several  Gospels  be  repre- 
sented by  100,  the  following  table  is  obtained  : 

St.  Mark        has  7  peculiarities,  and  93  coincidences. 

St.  Matthew    „  42         ,.         „  58  „ 

St.  Luke  „  59        ,,         „  41  „ 

St.  John  „  92        „        „  8  „ 


Resemblances  and  Differences.  23 

Renss  has  further  calcnhxted  tliat  the  total  number  of  verses  common  the  four 
to  all  the  Synoptists  is  about  330 ;  tliat  St.  Matthew  has  350  verses  gospels. 
peculiar  to  himself,  St.  Mark  G8,  and  St.  Luke  541,  The  coincidences 
are  usually  in  the  record  of  sayings  :  the  peculiarities  in  the  narrative 
portion.  In  St.  Matthew,  the  narrative  occupies  about  one  fourth  ;  in 
St.  Mark  one  half ;  and  in  St.  Luke  one  third.  The  instances  of  verbal 
coincidence  between  all  the  three  Synoptists  together  are  mostly  in  short 
sentences  and  are  not  very  frequent. 

Another  important  fact  is  that  when  St.  Matthew  and  St.  Luke 
verbally  agree — which  is  chiefly  in  the  words  of  Jesus— St.  Mark  always 
agrees  with  them  ;  that  the  resemblances  bstween  St.  Luke  and  St.  Mark 
are  much  closer  than  those  between  St.  Luke  and  St.  Matthew,  but  are 
not  numerous,  being  only  eight  in  all,^  and  mostly  in  short  words  of  the 
Lord  ;  that  where  St.  Mark  has  additional  touches  St.  Luke  usually  has 
them  also,  but  less  seldom  when  additions  are  found  only  in  St.  Matthew ; 
and  that  where  St.  Mai^k  is  silent,  St.  Luke  often  differs  from  St. 
Mattliew. 

St.  Luke  and  St.  Mark  agree  most  in  the  Galilean,  and  least  in  the 
Judean  scene  of  the  narrative.  Their  agreement  chiefly  is  in  short 
"words  of  the  Lord"  with  the  context  that  leads  to  them.  Bat  the 
agreement  of  St.  Luke  with  St.  Matthew  is  often  for  several  consecutive 
sentences.  To  give  the  passages  and  details  would  occupy  too  much 
space.  It  is  not  often  that  both  St.  Luke  and  St.  Matthew  contain  passages 
omitted  by  St.  Mark  {e.g.  the  Lost  Sheep,  Matt,  xviii.  12 — 14;  Luke 
XV.  4 — 7,  and  compare  Matt.  viii.  5  sq.,  xxii.  1  sq.  with  Luke  vii.  1  sq., 
xiv.  15  sq.). 

All  the  Evangelists  have  in  common  forty-seven  sections.  In  St. 
Mark  there  are  not  more  than  twenty-four  verses  to  which  no  paiallel 
exists  in  St.  Matthew  and  St.  Luke.^ 

The  best  way  to  estimate  the  facts  is  to  examine  side  by  side  the  text 
of  the  Synoptists  in  any  passage  which  they  have  in  common,  such  as 
the  Parable  of  the  Wicked  Husbandmen  (Matt.  xxi.  33—44  ;  Luke 
XX.  9 — 18  ;  Mark  xii.  1 — 11),  or  the  Transfiguration  and  the  healing  of 
the  demoniac  boy  (Matt.  xvii.  1—21  ;  Markix.  1—27  ;  Lukeix.  28—42). 
This  may  very  easily  be  done  by  studying  Rushbrooke's  Synopticon,  in 
which  the  matter  common  to  all  the  Evangelists  is  printed  in  red  ;  the 
matter  common  to  each  pair  in  black  spaced  type  ;  and  the  matter 
peculiar  to  each  in  ordinary  type.  The  examination  will  at  once  illus- 
trate the  extraordinary  complexity  of  tlie  problem  to  be  solved.  It  will 
reveal  the  existence  of  apparent  discrepancies  intersecting  resemblances, 

'  Marsh,  ranian  says  :  "  Les  details  que  Matthieu  ajoute  a  Marc,  Luc  ne 
les  a  pas  ;  ce  que  Luc  seiiible  ajouter  h.  Matthieu  Maro  I'a  toujours.  Dans 
les  passages  qui  manquent  chez  Marc  il  y  a  chez  Luc  une  autre  receusion  que 
cliez  Matthieu." — Les  Etangilc:^,  258. 

2  \y[ Q&twit  Introd.  ;   ScliafF.  Jliat.  of  Christian  Church,  p.  595. 


24  The  Gospels. 

THE  Fouii  ^'"^  of  diversities  interlacing  agreements  in  every  possible  variety.  It 
GOSPELS.  will  at  the  same  time  leave  on  every  candid  mind  an  irresistible  im- 
IJression  that  we  are  reading  the  truthful  narrative  of  one  and  the  same 
story  by  dili'erent  witnesses,  modified  only  by  the  individuality,  the 
keenness  of  observation,  and  the  retentiveness  of  memory  of  the 
narrators.^ 

The  various  theories  wliicli  have  been  invented  to  account  for  these 
facts  have  been  elaborately  discussed.     They  are 

1.  The  "borrowing"  theory,  or  theory  of  inter-dependence, supjjorted 
by  Eichhorn,  Marsh  and  others,  which  supposes  that  one  or  two  of  the 
Evangelists  direclly  borrowed  from  the  other.  It  was,  for  instance,  long 
supposed  that  St.  ]\Iark  was,  as  St.  Augustine  calls  him,  only  an  abbrevia- 
tor  and  "  pedissequus  "  of  St.  Matthew.  Each  of  the  Evangelists  in  turn 
has  been  regarded  as  the  source  from  which  the  others  borrowed.  Every 
such  theory  has  broken  down  under  the  weight  of  the  accumulated 
absurdities  which  it  involves. 

2.  The  "  Primitive  Gospel"  theory.  It  has  been  supposed  that  there 
was  some  earlier  edition — a  Proto-Marcus  or  other  Proto-Evangelist — 
in  a  form  different  from  our  canonical  Gospels.  Every  possible  modifica- 
tion of  this  view  has  now  been  abandoned  as  absolutely  untenable.  Each 
theory  of  the  kind  requires  as  many  subordinate  hypotheses  of  early 
editions,  later  recensions,  translations,  &c.,  as  the  Ptolemaic  system  of 
astronomy  required  orbs  and  epicycles  to  account  for  its  theory  of  the 
motions  of  the  heavenly  bodies.^ 

3.  The  "  Tendency "  hypothesis  of  the  Tubingen  school,  which  held 

^  Other  passages  which  may  most  profitably  be  contrasted  are  Matt.  xxi. 
33 — 44.  Mark  xii.  1 — 11.  Luke  xx.  9 — 18,  or  we  may  compare  only  single 
verses,  such  as  : 


[att.  xxviii.  7. 

Mark  xvi.  7. 

Luke  xxiv.  6. 

—          iii.  5. 

i.  5. 

• iii.  3. 

—      xix.  16. 

X.  17. 

xviii.  18. 

or  verses  common  to  two  Synopti.sls  {r.g.  Mark  viii.  19,  Luke  viii.  14;  or 
Matt.  xiv.  4,  Marie  vi.  19).  It  would  take  a  vohime  to  talnilate  the  results  : 
but  by  means  of  such  inquiries  carried  out  with  the  aid  of  Rushhrooke's 
Synopiicon,  it  seems  possible  to  recover  the  "Triple  Tradition"  common  to 
the  three — the  original  and  almost  continuous  narrative  which  they  alike 
utilised,  and  which  began  at  the  preacliiiig  of  tlie  Baptist.  Pr.  Abbolt 
{Encycl.  Brit.  Art.  Cosjiels')  as  the  outcome  of  snch  inquiries,  regards  it  as  de- 
monstrable 111  at  (1)  St.  j\Iark  did  not  copy  from  St.  Matthew  or  St.  Luke  ;  and 
(2)  that  St.  Matthew  and  St.  Luke  may  liave  been  influenced  by  some  original 
form  of  St.  Mark,  or  of  the  original  tradition  which  ho  u.sed. 

*  One  specimen  may  sufliee  to  ilhistrate  the  conqdexity  of  tho.se  arbitrary 
guesses.  Scholten  (if  I  understand  his  view  rightly)  supposes  a  Proto-Mark. 
followed  by  our  ]>resent  St.  Mark  (Dcutero-JIark),  and  a  Trito- Matthew,  wliieh 
is  our  St.  Matthew  !  But  as  though  this  were  not  enough  he  supposes  tliat  the 
Proto-Marcus  was  a  sketch  by  Jolm  Mark,  wliichconiliineda  Deutero-JIatthew 
with  the  Loffia  of  Matthew  (asu])posed  collection  of  "  sayings,"  v.  infra),  and 
that  these  Lor/m  were  in  five  series !  (see  more  in  Hilgenfeld,  Einlcit.  455). 
Are  such  fancies  worth  refuting,  or  even  worth  recording  ? 


THE  rouR 


Origin  of  the  Gospels.  25 

tliat  cacli  of  the  Gospels  was  a  history  modified  in  the  interest  of  party 

opinion  from  some  primitive  Aramaic  source,  which  is  conjectured  to      gospels. 

have  been  an  early  form  of  the  Gospel  according  to  the  Hebrews.^     The 

ordinary  form  of  the  Tiibingen  theory  is  that  St.  Matthew's  Gospel  is 

a  combination  of  an  Aramaic  with  a  more  liberal  document ;  that  St. 

Luke's  is  a  Pauline  protest  supplemented  from  Ebionite  sources ;  and 

that  St.  Mark  copied  from  both  ! 

4.  These  hypotheses  have  little  or  nothing  in  their  favour,  nor  do 
they  account  adequately  for  the  facts  before  us.  They  assume  that  the 
Evangelists  altered  each  other's  narratives  often  for  the  worse,  often  by 
changes  which  would  have  been  to  the  last  degree  meaningless  and 
trivial.  They  depend  on  the  impossible  and  irreverent  assumption  that 
each  of  the  Synoptists  felt  himself  at  liberty  to  alter,  or  to  omit,  or 
to  transpose,  and  in  multitudes  of  ways  to  manipulate  not  the  facts  only 
of  the  life  of  Christ,  but  even  the  words  which  He  uttered.  Even 
the  Rabbis  laid  down  the  rule  {Shabhath,  f.  15,  1.)  that  it  was  the  duty 
of  a  pupil  to  reproduce  to  the  utmost  of  his  ability  the  ipsissima  verba 
of  his  teachers,  lest  from  any  mistake  or  alteration  he  should  confuse  the 
Halacha,  or  established  precedent  and  opinion,  to  which  appeal  was  made. 
It  is  inconceivable  that  the  Evangelists,  if  they  had  any  of  the  Canonical 
Gospels,  or  any  other  faithful  record  in  their  hands,  should  have  felt 
themselves  at  liberty  to  subject  the  sayings  and  actions  of  their  Master 
to  a  process  of  dogmatic  adaptation.  Such  a  theory  explains  nothing, 
and  accounts  for  nothing.  To  mention  none  of  the  other  difficulties 
(which  are  suggested  by  every  page)  is  it  conceivable  that  the  Synoptists, 
if  they  had  access  to  each  other's  writings,  should  have  given  different 
genealogies  of  Christ,  different  versions  of  the  Lord's  prayer,  different 
formulae  of  the  institution  of  the  Eucharist,  even  different  forms  of 
the  inscription  on  the  cross  1 

5.  The  general  conclusions  to  which  all  recent  inquiries  seem  to  point 
and  which  are  now  most  widely  accepted,  are  that : 

i.  There  existed — as  there  naturally  must  have  existed — in  the  early 
Church  a  cycle  of  authoritative  oral  tradition,  which  had  become  fixed 
by  constant  repetition  in  the  preaching  of  different  Apostles.  It  repre- 
sented all  that  they  most  vividly  remembered,  or  considered  most 
immediately  important  in  the  life  and  teaching  of  their  Lord.  This 
memory  of  fundamental  facts  sufficed  all  the  early  churches  founded  by 
St.  Paul.^  "La  tradition  vivante,"  says  Pi,enan  {^axia  (^u>vi)  kol  jxivovara) 
"  dtait  le  grand  reservoir  oil  tons  puisaient."  ^  "  The  eternal  youth  of  the 
word  of  Christ,"  says  Iloltzmann,  "  was  manifested  by  the  fact  that  for  a 

"^  This  is  in  the  mnin  the  view  of  Baur,  Schwegler,  Ritschl,  Volkmar, 
Ililgenfeld,  Kostlin,  Davidson. 

-  It  should  be  bnme  in  mind  that  in  that  age  and  in  the  East  men  were 
trained  to  rely  on  memory  to  a  far  greater  extent  than  in  modern  times. 

*  Les  ^vangilcs,  p.  96. 


26  The  Gos2)eIs. 

TOE  FOUR  ceutury  it  passed  tliroiigli  tlie  world  of  human  thought,  preserved  only 
GusPKLS.  by  oral  tradition,  yet  unweakened  in  essence,  and  still  maintaining  its 
freshness  and  originalitj'."'  "  So  full  of  grace  were  His  lips,"  Origenhad 
said,  seventeen  centuries  earlier,  "  that  brief  as  was  the  period  during 
which  He  taught,  yet  the  whole  world  has  been  filled  with  His  faith  and 
doctrine."  - 

ii.  This  authoritative  tradition,  retained  for  a  time  in  the  strong 
memories  of  those  who  frequently  heard  it,  was  gradually  committed  to 
writing  by  some  of  the  disciples  for  the  use  of  wider  circles.  Earliest 
among  such  narratives  {birjyfjaeis)  and  utterances  Avould  be  the  genealogy 
of  Christ,  His  miracles.  His  discourse?,  briefer  sayings  and  eschatological 
prophecies. 

iii.  These  written  memorials  were  early  used  by  those  who,  more  or 
less  unsuccessfully,  first  attempted  to  set  forth  a  continuous  sketch  of 
the  ministry  of  Christ. 

iv.  The  most  authentic  and  valuable  of  such  attempts  were  to  a 
certain  extent  utilised  in  the  narratives  of  the  Evangelists.  This  is 
certain.  It  would  be  an  absolute  absurdity  to  maintain  that  the  many 
verbal  coincidences  between  the  Synf)ptists  could  be  accounted  for 
except  on  the  supposition  that  they  had  access  to  common  sources  of 
information. 

6.  This  hypothesis  has  three  considerations  in  its  favour. 

a.  It  corresponds  with  the  manner  in  which  other  sacred  writings 
have  originated  in  ancient  days.  "  Plus  un  souvenir  est  grand  et  sacre," 
says  De  Pressense,  "plus  il  se  grave  profondement." ^ 

/3.  It  comes  nearest  to  the  oldest  tradition  on  the  subject  in  the  Church 
as  recorded  by  Papias.*  Eusebius  agrees  with  him  in  saying  that  the 
work  of  the  Apostles  was  to  preach  and  to  bear  witness,  and  that  they 
paid  but  little  attention  to  the  composition  of  books.^ 

y.  It  closely  follows  the  remarkable  facts  mentioned  by  St.  Luke  in 
the  preface  to  his  Gospel.  St.  Luke  tells  us  that  when  he  undertook  to 
write  his  Gospel  he  found  "  many  "  narratives  (Sti/yV^'s)  of  the  life  of 
Christ  and  the  origin  of  Christianity  already  in  existence.  These  failed 
to  satisfy  him.     They  were  "  attempts,"  and  as  he  implies,  inadequate 

^  Prokstantcn  Bihcl  (E.  T.  i.  35).  In  saying  "  for  a  century,"  lie  means 
that  (as  we  see  from  the  remark  of  Papias,  ap.  Euseb.  //.  E.  iii.  24)  tradition 
subsisted  till  the  middle  of  the  second  ceutury,  side  by  side  with  written 
narratives. 

-  Origi'n,  Dc  PrindpAv.  5.  Our  Lord  Himself  predicted  the  vitality  of  this 
oral  tradition  (Matt.  xxiv.  14,  34  ;  xxvi.  13). 

'  Hist,  dcs  troif  prcm.  SiMcs,  ii.  81. 

*  See  the  remarkable  passage  of  Papias,  preserved  by  Eusebius  (II.  E. 
iii.  39). 

*  StohStjs  t^s  TTfpl  TO  \oyoypa<piiv  fiiKpau  iroiovfifvoi  (ppovTiSa,  Euseb.  IT.  E. 
iii.  24.  Sr.  John  in  his  .second  Epistle  (v.  12)  pur-i)o,sely  puts  off  writing  {ovk 
i}0ou\i^6j]v  5ia  xopToC  Kol  fj.(\ayos  (ypd<pfii^))  because  he  prefers  to  deliver  hi.s 
message  orally. 


Host  x>rohahle  hypothesis.  27 

attempts.  They  professed,  indeed,  to  represent  tlie  "  tradition "  de-  .j-jij,  poun 
livered  by  those  who  had  been  "  from  the  beginning  eye-witnesses  and  gospels. 
ministers  of  the  word,"  but  St.  Luke  felt  himself  compelled  to  offer  to 
Theophilus  something  more  perfect.  Besides  his  knowledge  and  use  of 
this  sacred  tradition  he  had  made  careful  investigations  of  the  whole 
history  from  the  beginning  {napi^Kokovdr^KOTi  avu>6ev  naaiv  oKpi^oSs)  in 
order  that  his  friend  might  fully  know  (ua  (inyvas)  the  actual  and 
certain  facts  (ttjv  dcrcjid^eiav)  about  all  the  truths  in  which  he  had 
already  been  orally  instructed.  Christ  had  not  commanded  His  Apostles 
to  write,  hut  to  preach.  The  Gospels  were  produced  to  meet  a  more 
and  more  imperious  necessity.  The  same  impulse  and  the  same  reason- 
ings which  weighed  with  St.  Luke  may  well  have  influenced  the  other 
Evangelists  at  nearly  the  same  time.  That  St.  Luke  did  not  include 
these  Gospels  among  the  "attemjDts"  with  which  he  was  dissatisfied,  and 
indeed  that  he  was  not  acquainted  with  them,  though  he  had  recourse  to 
traditions  and  documents  which  they  also  had  incorporated,  is  clear 
from  every  page  of  his  Gospel. 

7.  If  then  this  hypothesis  of  a  fixed  oral  tradition  gradually  reduced 
to  writing,  be  insufficient  to  account  for  the  differences  and  resemblances 
of  the  Evangelists,  it  is  at  least  certain  that  no  more  reasonable  sugges- 
tion has  yet  been  made.-^ 

The  Four  Gospels  superseded  all  others  and  Avon  their  way  into 
universal  acceptance  by  their  intrinsic  value  and  authority.^  After  "  so 
many  salutary  losses  "  *  we  still  possess  a  rich  collection  of  Apocryphal 
Gospels,  and,  if  they  serve  no  other  good  jjurpose,  they  have  this  value, 
that  they  prove  for  us  undoubtedly  the  unique  and  transcendent  superi- 
ority of  the  sacred  records.  These  bear  the  stamp  of  absolute  truthfulness, 
all  tlie  more  decisively  when  placed  in  contrast  with  writings  which  show 
signs  of  wilful  falsity.  We  escape  from  their  "lying  magic"  to  find  sup- 
port and  help  in  the  genuine  Gospels.  "  And  here  we  take  refuge  with 
the  greater  coniidence  because  the  ruins  which  lie  around  the  ancient 
archives  of  the  Church  look  like  a  guarantee  of  the  enduring  strength 
and  greatness  of  those  archives  themselves."* 

^  This  is  the  view  which  has  been  adopted  in  the  main  by  Herder,  Gicseler, 
(who  first  developed  it  in  1818)  Schuiz,  Credner,  Lange,  Ebrard,  Thiersch, 
Norton,  Alford,  Eenan,  Godet,  Westcott,  Schaff,  Weiss,  and  Archbishop 
Thomson. 

^  "Multi  conati  sunt  scribere  Evangelia,  sed  non  omnes  recepti,"  Orig. 
Horn,  in  Luc. 

3  Keim,  Jesu  of  Nazara,  i.  45  (E.  T.) 

•*  Keim,  i.  45. 


28  The  Gospels. 


NOTE  11. 

BTYLE,   AND   DIFFERENT  BOOKS   OF  THE   NEW  TESTAMENT. 

THB  FOUR         One  of  the  greatest  modern  stylists  has  said   that  there  are  at  least 
GoaPELs.       gyg  different  styles  in  the  New  Testament.     Under  this  head  he  ranks 
together 

1.  ]\Iatthew.     Mark.     The  Apocalypse. 

2.  Luke  and  the  Acts. 

3.  General  Epistles  of  St.  PauL     Hebrews.     1  Peter. 

4.  James.     Jude.     2  Peter.     Pastoral  Epistles. 

5.  The  writings  of  John. 

There  is  much  insight  in  the  remark,  though  it  is  open  to  criticism. 
But  adds  M.  Eenan,  what  constitutes  (in  this  point  of  view)  the  strength 
of  all  these  writings  is  that  they  are  written  in  Greek  but  conceived  in 
Aramaic.  The  absoluteness  of  Old  Testament  idiom,  in  which  there  are 
no  nuances,  in  which  all  is  black  or  white,  shade  or  sunshine,  which 
instead  of  saying  "  I  preferred  Jacob  to  Esau,"  says  "  Jacob  have  I  loved 
and  Esau  have  I  hated,"  retains  in  the  New  Testament  also  its  startling 
and  overwhelming  energy  and  fascination. 


THE  GOSPEL  ACCORDING-  TO  ST.  MATTHEW. 


"  The  book  of  the  generation  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  son  of  David,  the  son  of 
Abraham." — Matt.  i.  1. 

1.  When  we  desire  to  know  something  about  a  book  our  st.  matthew. 
first  question  is,  "  Who  wrote  it  ? "  Fortunately  we  know 
that  the  author  of  the  Gospel  which  stands  first  in  our  New 
Testament  was  the  apostle  St.  Matthew.  We  are  told  but 
little  about  him  personally.  He  was  a  son  of  Alphaeus,  a 
brother  of  James  the  Little  ;  possibly,  as  criticism  has  con- 
jectured, a  brother  of  St.  Thomas  called  Didymus,  whose 
name  means  "  the  twin " ;  possibly,  as  tradition  has  said,  a 
kinsman  of  our  Lord  according  to  the  flesh.  The  Gospels, 
not  excepting  his  own,  record  nothing  about  him  except  his 
call  and  his  farewell  feast.  ^  He  had  been  a  publican ;  that 
is,  he  had  held  the  low  and  despised  office  of  collector  of  the 
taxes  imposed  by  the  conquering  Romans  on  his  oppressed 
fellow-countrymen.2 

That  office  was  all  the  baser  because  of  its  gainfulness. 
It  was  usually  stained  with  dishonesty.  In  a  Jew  it 
bore   the   stigma   of    unpatriotic   subservience   to   an   alien 

^  Matt.  ix.  10.  The  modest  reticence  of  the  Evangelist  appears  in  his  sup- 
pression of  his  share  in  this  feast.     Comp.  Luke  v.  29. 

2  Herod  Antipas  may  perhaps  have  been  allowed  to  collect  his  own  taxes, 
and  Matthew  may  have  thought  himself  comparatively  justified  in  serving  as 
a  revenue  officer  to  a  semi-Jewish  king.  On  the  other  hand,  as  Herod  had  to 
pay  tribute  to  the  Komans,  the  discredit  which  the  office  attached  to  a  faith- 
ful theocratic  Jew  was  just  the  same;  and  it  is  clear  that  the  tax-collectors 
were  as  much  detested  in  Galilee  as  everywhere  else. 


30  The  Gospels. 

ST.  MATTHEW,  opprcssion.  From  a  position  thus  sordid  and  despised 
one  word  of  Christ  redeemed  him.  Touched  by  the 
'^'^''2^0"'  Ithuriel  spear  of  His  Master's  love,  he  sprang  up  from  a 
tax-gatherer  into  an  apostle.  He  who  rejected  the  scribe 
accepted  the  publican,  and  enabled  the  subservient 
Matt.  ix.  11.  official  to  work  side  by  side  with  the  flaming  zealot. 
One  farewell  feast,  to  his  old  companions,  on  a  Pharisaic  fast- 
MarkiiriS.  '^^y — ^  ^Q^^t  in  which  the  guests  were  so  numerous  as  to 
prove  that  St,  Matthew  had  something  to  lose  by  the  aban- 
donment of  his  functions — and  then,  forsaking  all,  he  followed 
Christ.  It  is  he  alone  who  has  appended  to  his  own  name 
the  opprobrious  addition  of  "Matthew  the  publican."^  He 
need  not  have  done  so,  for  Matthew  was  a  new  name.  His 
old  name  had  been  Levi.  Matthew  means  "  the  gift  of 
God."^  The  old  name  Levi  had  been  abandoned  with  the 
old  profession.^  In  that  single  word,  "  the  publican  "  (x.  3), 
and  in  tlie  absolute  suppression  of  his  own  personality 
throughout  the  Gospel,  we  see  the  deep  humility  of  the 
Evangelist.  Not  one  incident,  not  one  question,  of  his  is 
recorded.  He  occupied  a  very  retiring  and  humble  position 
in  the  apostolic  band.  Tradition  only  records  one  saying  of 
his  and  one  fact  about  him.  The  traditional  fact  is  that  he 
lived  the  life  of  an  ascetic,  on  herbs  and  water.*  The  saying 
is  that  when  the  neighbour  of  an  elect  man  sins,  he  himself 
has  sinned;  for   had  he  lived  as  the  Word  commands,  hi.s 

^  It  has  been  fancied  that  St.  Matthew  shows  traces  of  the  matters  which 
formerly  occupied  his  attention  in  the  use  of  the  word  "  tribute-money  "  not 
"penny  "  in  x.xii.  17 — 22,  and  in  recordins;  the  miracle  of  the  stater. 

■■*  VlarOaios  is  the  Greek  form  of  ^Fllb^  shortened  from  n*riO  (perhaps 
another  form  of  Amittai,  Jonah  i.  1)  0«o5«pos.  Mattathias,  1.  Mace.  ii.  1. 
Matthias,  Acts  i.  23. 

•J  The  idontiiication  of  Mattliow  with  Levi  (Matt.  ix.  9,  x.  3.  Mark  ii.  14. 
Luke  V.  27)  has  indeed  been  questioned  (what  lias  not  been  questioned  ?), 
but  it  has  lieen  all  but  unanimously  accepted  from  the  earliest  ages.  The  chief 
exceptions  are  the  Valentiuian  Kerakleon  (Chem.  Alex.  Strom,  iv.  9,  73)  ; 
Origen  (c.  Ccls.  i.  62),  Grotius,  Michaelis,  de  Wette,  and  Ewald  (Christus,  pp. 
289,  321). 

■•  Mardaios  fifv  oZv  6  dir6<Tro\os  (rinpfiiiaiv  Koi  cLKpo^iwv  KaX  Aaxat'tt'i'  Sreu 
T    ,  Kptuv  yurfKai^fiave.     C^em.  Alex.  Pmd.   ii.   1,  p.  16.     If  so  this  manner  of 

/  life  seems  to  liave  been  adopted  in  later  days  (see  Matt.  ix.  10—11,  Matthew's 

/  feast). 


St.  Ilatthew.  31 

neighbours  would  have  so  reverenced  him  as  to  refrain  from  sr.  mattiiew. 
sin.  These  traditional  particulars  have  no  intrinsic  impro- 
bability. It  was  believed  in  the  early  Church  that  certain 
ascetic  or  half-Essene  tendencies  existed  in  the  circle  of  our 
Lord's  earthly  relatives.  We  see  a  certain  general  resemblance 
between  the  Judaic  sternness  and  simplicity  of  James,  "  the 
Lord's  brother,"  and  of  St.  Matthew.  The  sternness  is  illus- 
trated by  the  fact  that  in  this  Gospel  the  idea  of  punishment 
and  retribution  is  more  prominent  than  in  the  others.  ^  As  to 
the  death  or  labours  of  St.  Matthew  we  know  nothing.  It 
is  said  that  he  went  forth  from  Jerusalem  as  a  missionary ;  - 
but  whither  he  went — whether  to  Ethiopia  or  to  Parthia — is 
uncertain  ;  nor  is  it  known  whether  he  died  peacefully,  or 
whether  he  won  the  martyr's  crown.^ 

2.  But  out  of  this  life,  so  discredited  in  its  youth,  so  un- 
recorded in  its  manhood,  there  flowed  a  most  memorable 
service — the  first  Gospel.  He  thus  lived  to  confer  an  eternal 
benefit  on  that  Church  of  God,  which  he  alone  of  the  Evan- 
gelists has  mentioned  by  that  name.*  It  is  not  the  only 
instance  in  which  one  who  seems  to  have  lived  much  alone 
with  God  and  his  own  soul  has,  like  John  Tauler  or  Thomas 
a  Kempis,  embalmed  in  one  brief  book  the  inmost  fragrance 
of  a  blessed  spirit,  to  last  for  a  life  beyond  life. 

3.  His  comparative  obscurity,  his  unpopular  profession, 
help  to  make  his  authorship  more  indisputable.     No  forger 

^  See  Matt.  vii.  13,  23,  42  ;  xviii.  34,  35  ;  xxii.  13  ;  xxiii.  33  ;  xxiv.  50, 
51  ;  XXV.  30,  46. 

2  Euseb.  H.  E.  iii.  24  ;  v.  10  ;  Socrates,  H.  E.  i.  19. 

3  Ik-iaklenn  {ap.  Clem.  Alex.  I.  c.)  excepts  from  the  number  of  martyrs 
Matthew,  Philip,  Thomas,  Levi  and  many  others.  In  all  western  works  of 
art  he  is  represented  as  being  slain  by  the  sword.  Greek  artists  uniformly 
exhibit  him  as  dying  in  peace,  wliile  an  angel  swings  the  censer  beside  his 
bed  ;  as  on  the  ancient  dome  of  San  Paolo  at  Rome.  (Mrs.  Jameson.)  As  to 
his  missionary  labours,  Eusebius  only  says  that  he  went  e(/)'  ertpovs.  Eusebius 
and  Jerome  have  nothing  to  add  to  this.  Macedonia,  Persia,  &c,.,  are  only 
specified  by  later  writers,  till  at  last,  Nicephorus  Callistus  (in  1350)  specifies 
the  Anthropophagi ! 

*  'Ek:(cA.7J(7io.  Matt.  xvi.  18  ;  xviii.  17.  The  fact  that  this  word,  so  common 
in  the  Epistles,  where  it  occurs  112  times,  should  occur  here  only  in  the 
Gospels,  like  the  fact  that  the  title  "Son  of  Man,"  so  common  in  the  Gospels, 
is  not  found  in  the  F.pistles,  is  an  interesting  but  entirely  undesigned  coinci- 
dence, which  throws  light  on  the  purpose,  ago,  and  credibility  of  the  Gospels. 


32  The  Gospels. 

would  have  attributed  his  work  to  one  whose  name  belonged 
to  the  least  distinguished  among  the  Apostles,  It  would 
have  been  natural  to  forge  an  Epistle  of  St.  Peter ;  no  one 
would  have  thought  of  an  Epistle  of  St.  Matthew.  And  yet 
antiquity  is  unanimous  in  the  belief,  both  that  he  wrote  this 
Gospel/  a,nd  that  he  wrote  it  originally  in  Aramaic,  for  his 
own  countrymen.^  If  so,  the  Aramaic  original  has  perished  ^ 
and  the  Greek  translation  must,  for  almost  undoubted  critical 
reasons,  have  come  from  the  hands  of  the  Apostle  himself.* 

The  Gospel  of  St.  Matthew  was,  in  all  probability,  the 
earliest  of  the  four.^  It  is  natural  to  suppose  that  when  the 
demand  for  a  written  Gospel  had  arisen,  the  Church  would 
desire  to  possess  such  a  document  from  the  pen  of  an  actual 
Apostle.  Silent,  observant,  faithful,  belonging  to  the  Lord's 
own  friends  and  relations,  familiar  with  the  art  of  writing  by 
the  necessities  of  his  trade,  and  not  otherwise  prominently 


^  Credner,  Volkmar  and  others,  ari^iie  that  "  the  Gospel  according  to  {Kara) 
Matthew  "  does  not  imply  direct  authorship  ;  but  their  view  is  disproved  by- 
usage  (Bleek,  Einlcitimtj,  87  ;  De  Wette,  §  78),  Hilgenfeld  {Einlcitung,  149), 
shows  that  the  phrase  implies  that  the  one  Gospel  was  set  forth  in  four 
Gospels.  Thus  in  2  I\Iacc.  ii.  13,  the  Book  of  Nehemiah  is  referred  to  as 
Kara  'Hiefxlav,  and  Kiiiiilianius  (Hcicr.  viii.  4)  has  r)  kuto.  Muixrea  UevTaTivxos. 
It  is  not  impossible  that  the  office  of  St.  Matthew  involved  a  familiarity  with 
the  art  of  writing,  and  with  other  forms  of  literary  activity. 

-  This  is  asserted  by  Papias  (aj).  Euseb.  H.  E.  iii.  39) :  Irenaeus  {Eaer.  iii. 
1,  s.  1)  ;  Origen  (rrp.  Luseb,  vi.  25)  ;  Eusebius  {H.  E.  v.  8) ;  Jerome  {De  Virr. 
■ilhtstr.  3) ;  Cyi'il  of  Jerusalem  (CatixJi.  xiv.  5) ;  Epijilianius  (Hacr.  xxx.  3, 
Ji.  3),  &c.  It  is  now  generally  believed  (o)'that  the  Greek  style  of  the  book,  in 
spite  of  the  Hebraic  colouring  which  it  has  in  common  with  nearly  all  the 
books  of  the  New  Testament ;  and  (;3)  the  use  of  the  LXX.  in  the  majority  of 
the  quotations,  prove  our  present  Greek  Gospel  to  hive  been  an  original. 
Keim  and  others  suppose  that  Papias  and  all  who  followed  him  may  have 
been  led  into  confusion  by  the  existence  of  the  "Gospel  of  the  Hebrews" 
which  mainly  agreed  with  the  narrative  of  Matthew,  See  the  note  at  the  end 
of  this  discourse. 

3  Tliere  would  be  nothing  very  extraordinary  about  this  fact.  Josephus  tells 
ns  that  he  iirst  wrote  his  Antiquities  in  Aramaic. 

*  The  Greek  iigxwQ  paronotnasia  occurs  twice  (vi.  16  ;  xxi.  41).  It  is  notice- 
able too  that  in  the  Gospel  to  tlie  Hebrews  the  Holy  Ghost  is  feminine  ("my 
mother  the  Holy  Ghost ")  because  the  Hebrew  HIT  is  feminine  ;  but  there  is 
nothing  of  this  kind  in  St.  Matthew. 

'  Ep.  Barnab.  iv.  vii.  Iren.  Hacr.  i.  26,  §  2  ;  iii.  1,  §.  1.  Euseb,  H.  E. 
iii.  27.  Origen,  ap.  Euseb.  II.  E.  vi.  25.  Cerinthus  {circ.  A.D.  110)  used  the 
Gospel  (Epiplian.  Hacr.  xxx.  14),  as  also  Clement,  Hermas,  Justin,  &c.  And 
this  view  is  accepted  even  by  Schwegler,  Strauss,  Hilgenfeld,  Keim,  &c. 
Irenaeus  {Hacr.  iii.  1)  dates  it  a.d.  61 — 64,  which  is  probably  a  little  too  early. 


St.  Matthew.  33 

engaged  in  apostolic  work,  St.  Matthew  may  have  been  st.  matthbw 
specially  marked  out  for  that  high  task.  He  may  have 
undertaken  it  when  twelve  years  had  elapsed  after  the  death 
of  Christ.  At  that  time  the  Apostles — in  accordance  with  a 
command  which  (as  tradition  says)  they  had  received  from  the 
Lord — began  to  disperse  from  Jerusalem  to  make  disciples  in 
all  the  world.^  The  written  words  would  supply  the  void  left 
by  their  absence  from  the  Holy  City.^ 

And  his  Gospel  is  one  of  pre-eminent  importance.  We 
have  already  seen  that  of  the  entire  materials  of  the  evan- 
gelic history,  two-fifths  are  common  to  the  Synoptists. 
Only  one-third  of  the  materials  belongs  to  the  others  indi- 
vidually and  peculiarly.  But  St.  Matthew's  Gospel,  which  is 
nearly  as  long  as  St.  Luke's,  contains  fourteen  entire  sections 
which  are  found  in  him  alone.  These  sections,  moreover,  are 
of  the  deepest  interest.  Among  the  forty-two  peculiarities 
are  ten  parables,^  two  miracles,*  four  events  of  the  Infancy,^ 
seven  incidents  connected  with  the  Passion  and  Resurrection,^ 
and  not  a  few  great  passages  in  our  Lord's  discourses.'^  In- 
deed, it  is  the  prominence  of  our  Lord's  discourses  in  St. 
Matthew  that  makes  it  characteristically  "  the  didactic 
Gospel,"   so  that  one-fourth  of  the  whole  is  taken  up  with 

1  The  tradition  is  first  found  in  the  Preaching  of  Tdcr  qiioted  by  Clement 
of  Alexandria  (Strom,  vi.  §  43),  and  is  alluded  to  by  Apollonius  (a.d.  180)  ap. 
Euseb.  E.  E.  v.  18. 

2  Euseb.  K.  E.  iii.  24. 

s  The  Tares  ;  the  Hid  Treasure  ;  the  Pearl ;  the  Drawnet  (xiii.  24—50) ;  the 
Unmerciful  Servant  (xviii.  23 — 35)  ;  the  Labourers  in  the  Vineyard  (xx.  1 — 16) ; 
the  Two  Sons  (xxi.  28—32)  ;  the  Marriage  of  the  King's  Son  (xxii.  1—14)  ; 
the  Ten  Virgins  (xxv.  1—13)  ;  the  Talents  (xxv.  14—30.) 

4  The  Cure  of  Two  Blind  Men  (ix.  27—31) ;  The  Stater  (xvii.  24—27.) 

5  The  Magi  ;  the  Massacre  of  the  Infants ;  the  Flight  into  Egypt ;  the 
return  to  Nazareth. 

8  The  Bargain,  and  Suicide  of  Judas ;  the  Dream  of  Pilate's  wife  ;  the 
departed  saints  who  rose  ;  tlie  watch  at  the  sepulchre  ;  the  story  of  the  San- 
hedrin  ;  the  earthquake  on  Easter  morning. 

7  Ten  in  all.  Parts  of  Sermon  on  Mount  (v. — vii.) ;  the  revelation  to  babes  ; 
the  invitations  to  the  weary  (xi.  25—30) ;  about  Idle  "Words  (xii.  36—37) ;  the 
prophecy  to  Peter  (xvi.  17 — 19)  ;  on  Humility  and  Forgiveness  (xviii.  15-35)  ; 
Rejection  of  the  Jews  (xxi.  43) ;  the  Great  Denunciation  (xxiii.)  ;  the  Eschato- 
logical  Discourse  (xxv.  31-46)  ;  the  Great  Commission  and  promise  (xxviii. 
18 — 20).  Hence  the  frequency  of  such  phrases  as  "And  when  Jesus  finished 
these  sayings"  (vii.  28  ;  xi.   1  ;  xiii.  53  ;  xix.  1  ;  xxvi.  1). 

D 


34  The  Gospels. 

tlie  actual  words  and  sermons  of  the  Son  of  Man.  Mean- 
while these  minute  analyses  have  established  the  great  result 
that  the  Evangelists  are,  as  witnesses,  independent  of  each 
other,  and  that  as  each  gave  his  own  testimony  in  his  own 
way,  they  weave  the  separate  strands  of  that  fourfold  cord 
of  evidence  by  which  the  Church  is  moored  to  the  living 
Hock  of  truth. 

4.  The  next  question  which  we  ask  about  a  book  is, 
"  When  was  it  written  ? "  When  we  remember  that  we  owe 
exclusively  to  the  Gospels  our  knowledge  of  the  life  and 
death  of  our  Saviour  Christ;  when  we  recall  that  our  faith 
centres  in  a  Person  and  that  the  Gospels  are  our  sole  nar- 
rative of  His  life,  we  see  how  much  it  imports  us  to  know 
at  what  date  they  were  penned.^  Had  the  records  of  the  life 
of  Jesus,  like  those  of  the  life  of  Buddha,  been  only  written 
long  centuries  after  His  death,  we  could  feel  no  security  as 
to  their  faithfulness.  Tradition  may  last  unimpaired  for  a 
generation,  but  after  that  time  it  becomes  obliterated  and 
confused.  The  divine  features  of  our  Saviour's  life  would 
have  been  blurred,  as  in  the  Apocryphal  Gospels,  by  all  kinds 
of  false  and  puerile  traditions,  if  they  had  not  been  committed 
to  writing  before  the  eye-witnesses  were  dead.  We  may 
thank  God  for  the  certainty  that  the  three  first  Gospels,  like 
every  other  book  of  the  New  Testament,  even  the  Gospel 
and  Epistles  of  St.  John,  were  written  in  the  same  generation 
which  had  witnessed  the  death  of  Christ,  crucified  as  He  was 
in  early  manhood.- 

1  Other  sources,  whether  Pagan  or  Apociyphal,  or  Oriental,  or  early 
Clu'istiau,  have  not  preserved  for  us  a  single  fact.  At  the  best,  a  few  of  the 
unrecorded  sayiugs  (aypacpa  56yfiaTa)  are  possibly  genuine,  as  is  certainly  that 
preserved  by  St.  Taul  (Acts  xx.  35).  They  are  deeply  interesting,  and  have 
often  been  collected,  as  by  Fabricius,  Cod.  Apocr.  N.  T.  i.  32  ;  Grabe  Spicileg. 
i.  12  ;  Korner,  De  Scnnouibus  Christi  dypacpots,  1776  ;  Hess.  Lcben  Jcsu,  ii. 
553  ;  Westcott,  Introd.  Append.  C.  The  three  most  interesting  and  well- 
attested  of  the  traditional  sayings  are,  "Show  yourselves  approved  money- 
changers." (Origen,  inJoann.  xix.)  "  He  who  wonders  shall  reign,  and  he  who 
reigns  shall  rest."  (Clem.  Alex.  Strom,  ii.  9,  §  45.)  "Near  Me  near  the  fire. 
Far  from  Me  far  from  the  Kingdom."  (Origen  in  Jcr.  iii.).  There  are  interest- 
ing traditions  in  the  Cod':x  Bczac  (D)  added  to  Matt.  xx.  28.     Luke  vi.  4. 

^  Jt  is  interesting  to  notice  that  the  title  "Son  of  Man"  is  recorded 
eighty-four  times  in  the  Gospels.     It  is  the  human,  the  Mt«sianic  title,  wliich 


Early  Date  of  the  Gospels.  35 

Fortunately  the  epoch  of  the  Old  Dispensation  was  closed  st.  matthew 
by  an  event  so  stupendous  that  it  completely  revolutionised 
the  religious  history  of  Judaism,  and  fundamentally  affected 
the  thoughts  of  Christians.  That  event,  of  which  the  results 
are  still  unexhausted,  was  the  Fall  of  Jerusalem.  Had  that 
catastrophe  preceded  the  writing  of  the  Synoptic  Gospels  and 
the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul,  nothing  is  more  certain  than  that  it 
must  have  been  directly  mentioned,  and  that  it  must  have  exer- 
cised an  immense  influence  on  the  thoughts  and  feelings  of  the 
Apostles  and  Evangelists.  No  writer,  dealing  with  the  topics 
and  arguments  and  prophecies  with  which  they  are  constantly 
occupied,  could  possibly  have  failed  to  appeal  to  the  tremend- 
ous sanction  which  had  been  given  to  all  their  views  by 
God  Himself,  who  thus  manifested  His  Providence  in  human 
history,  and  showed  all  things  by  the  quiet  light  of  inevitable 
circumstances.^  It  may  then  be  regarded  as  certain — it  is 
indeed,  admitted  by  many  sceptical  critics — that  the  Gospels 
were,  and  from  their  own  internal  evidence  must  have  been, 
published  before  a.d.  70,  and  therefore  within  forty  years 
after  our  Lord's  crucifixion.  It  is  scarcely  possible  to  exag- 
gerate the  importance  of  this  fact  in  estimating  the  evidences 
of  historic  religion.  If  we  had  not  possessed  the  records  of 
any  who  were  actually  contemporaries  of  our  Lord  Jesus, 
imagine  how  intense  would  have  been  our  desire  to  see  such 
records.  Scholars  have  sometimes  regretted  that  there  is  no 
extant  account  of  Socrates  from  the  pen  of  Kebes  or  one  of 
his  less  gifted  disciples.  But  the  importance  of  Socrates  is 
absolutely  infinitesimal,  even  iu  a  j)urely  historic  point  of 

Jesus  gave  to  Himself.     Nothing  is  more  natural  than  the  fact  that  it  is  used 
to  describe  our  Lord  in  the  Gospels  only. 

1  Such  passages  as  Matt.  v.  35;  xxii.  7;  xxiii.  2-34;  xxiv.  2;  ("The 
Holy  City,"  "  The  Holy  Place,"  "The  City  of  the  Great  King"  &c.)  could 
not  have  been  written  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem.  The  whole  of 
Chapter  xxiv.  implies  expectations  which  were  indeed  fuliilled,  and  fulfilled  in 
the  sense  intended,  but  in  a  sense  very  different  from  that  which  was  under- 
stood by  the  early  Christians,  or  anticipated  by  the  Evangelists  and  Apostles. 
See  especially  xxiv.  1.^  ;  again,  such  passages  as  xvi.  28  ;  xxiii.  36,  39  ;  xxiv. 
34  ;  xxvi.  64  ;  xxvii.  8  ;  xvii.  24,  are  certain  proofs  that  the  Gospel  was 
written  before  A.D.  70. 

D    2 


36  The  Gospels. 

view,  in  comparison  with  the  importance  of  the  Christ. 
Had  we  not  possessed  the  Gospels  we  should  certainly  have 
been  willing  to  sacrifice  whole  libraries,  nay,  whole  languages 
and  literatures,  in  exchange  for  authentic  details,  attested 
by  contemporary  evidence,  of  the  human  life  of  Him  "  whose 
bleeding  hand  lifted  the  gates  of  the  centuries  off  their 
hinges,"  and  whose  words  and  deeds  have  stirred  to  their 
inmost  depths  the  hearts  of  men — yes,  even  of  those  who 
believe  not  on  Hira.^ 

But  here,  in  the  Gospel  of  St.  Matthew,  we  have  the  very 
treasure  which  we  should  have  so  ardently  desired.  St.  Mark 
was  not  an  Apostle  ;  St.  Luke  was  not  an  Apostle.  We  have 
reason  to  believe  that  they  represent  the  testimonies  respec- 
tively of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul ;  but  we  do  not  know  to  what 
extent  St.  Mark  was  an  eye-witness,  and  St.  Luke  implies 
that  he  was  not  personally  an  eye-witness  at  all.  St.  John, 
indeed,  had  lived  in  the  closest  intimacy  with  Jesus ;  but  his 
Gospel  was  not  so  much  intended  for  a  record  of  external 
facts.  But  in  St.  Matthew's  Gospel  we  have  a  sketch  of  the 
life  of  Christ — and  probably  the  earliest  of  them — by  one  who 
was  perhaps  the  kinsman  of  Jesus;  certainly  His  Apostle; 
certainly  one  of  His  chosen  Twelve ;  certainly  one  of  those 
who  had  lived  in  His  nearest  intimacy; — by  one  who  had 
walked  and  talked  with  Him  in  the  fields  of  Galilee,  and  on 
the  slopes  of  Olivet ;  one  who  had  sat  with  Him  in  the  syna- 
gogue, and  sailed  with  Him  in  the  boat,  and  prayed  with 
Him  under  the  star-lit  sky;  one  who  had  seen  and  heard, 
and  his  hands  had  handled  the  Word  of  Life  : — and  that 
which  he  had  seen  and  heard  declares  he  unto  us. 

And  we  must  count  it  as  a  distinct  blessing — a  circum- 

^  Tims  Strauss  speaks  of  Clirist  as  sotnetliing  unique,  and  says  "Never  at 
any  time  will  it  bo  possible  to  rise  above  Him,  nor  to  imagine  any  one  who 
should  even  be  e(iual  with  Ilim."  Goethe  calls  him,  "the  Divine  Man,  the 
Saint,  the  type  and  model  of  all  men."  Channing  says,  "I  believe  Jesus 
Christ  to  be  a  more  than  human  being."  Renan  says,  "  Between  thee  and 
God  there  is  no  longer  any  distinction."  J.  S.  Mill  says  that  there  is  no  better 
rule  than  "so  to  live  that  Christ  would  approve  our  life."  Similar  testi- 
monies might  be  indefinitely  multiplied.  Some  of  them  I  have  quoted  in  my 
Hulsean  Lectures  on  The  IFitncss  of  Hijftory  to  Christ, 


A  Sim^^le  Narrator.  37 

stance  in  which  we  see  the  Providence  of  God — that  there  st.  mattuew 
is  no  trace  whatever  that  St.  Matthew  was  naturally  a 
highly-gifted  man.  The  glory  of  his  Gospel  consists  in  the 
inherent  glory  of  the  divine  events  which  it  was  his  high 
mission  to  narrate.  We  have  already  seen  that  not  an 
act,  not  a  sentence,  not  a  question  of  his  own,  is  recorded 
in  any  of  the  Gospels.  So  far  as  we  are  aware,  he  did  not 
possess,  either  before  or  after  the  Crucifixion,  a  particle  of 
special,  still  less  of  preponderant,  influence  in  the  apostolic 
band.  His  call  is  mentioned,  and  after  that  he  is  in  no  way 
distinguishable  from  the  mass  of  his  brother-Apostles.  He 
was  present  at  Pentecost,  and  thenceforth  he  disappears  alto- 
gether from  the  pages  of  New  Testament  history.  We  do  not 
know  either  where  he  lived,  or  what  he  did,  or  when  or  how 
he  died.  For  the  world  the  significance  of  his  life  is  simply 
concentrated  in  his  authorship  of  the  Gospel.  His  writings 
do  not  show  a  trace  of  that  glorious  and  indefinable  quality 
for  which  there  cannot  be  found  any  other  name  than  genius. 
For  the  Church  it  is  a  happy  circumstance  that  neither  he,  nor 
Apostles  ten  times  more  gifted  than  he,  had  the  ability  to 
invent  the  words,  so  inexhaustible  in  their  profundity,  the 
character  so  divine  in  its  power,  which  on  this  earth  have 
belonged  to  Christ  alone.  On  every  page  of  St.  John's 
writings  we  do  see  the  marks  of  an  individual  genius,  unique 
and  indisputable.  This  very  circumstance  has  led  many 
sceptics  to  discredit  his  testimony,  and  depreciate  the  his- 
toric value  of  his  Gospel.  They  have  seen  in  him  a  writer 
who  had  the  high  capacity  to  modify  or  even  in  some  measure 
to  originate.  No  such  suspicion  has  ever  attached  to  the 
Gospel  of  the  less  gifted  Publican.  He  gives  us  exactly 
what  we  most  needed :  he  could  be  a  simple  and  faithful 
narrator,  and  he  aims  at  nothing  more. 

5.  We  know  then  who  wrote  the  Gospel,  and  when ;  but 
why  did  he  write  it  ?  Every  book  worth  calling  a  book  is 
written  with  an  object;  what  is  the  object  of  the  Gospel  of 
St.   Matthew  ?     If  the  book  be  part  of  a  revelation,  what 


38  The  Gospels. 

ST.  MATTHEW  (locs  it  reveal  ?  We  have  seen  tliat  it  is  infinitely  valuable 
as  a  record  of  Christ's  life  and  work  by  one  who  knew  Him. 
But  how  does  it  differ  from  the  other  Gospels  ?  What  was 
the  special  conception  of  the  Evangelist  ?  Under  what  distinct 
aspect  docs  he  represent  the  Lord  of  Life  ? 

6.  Even  apart  from  unanimous  tradition,  we  should  see  at 
a  glance  that  he  wrote  mainly  for  his  own  countrymen.^  It 
was  plainly  his  object — his  "one  literary  passion" — to  con- 
nect the  Law  with  the  Gospel ;  to  fling  an  illuminated  bridge 
of  inspired  truth  between  the  Old  and  the  New  Dispensa- 
tions ;  to  connect  the  memories  of  his  readers  with  their 
hopes;  to  show  that  the  Lord  of  the  Christian  was  the 
Messiah  of  the  Jew.^  This  Gospel,  as  we  have  already  seen,  is 
the  Gospel  in  relation  to  the  Past ;  the  Gospel  represented  as 
the  fulfilment  of  the  long  ages  of  Prophecy;  the  Gospel 
designed  to  prove  to  the  Hebrews,  and  to  all  the  world,  that 
no  chasm  of  discontinuity  separated  the  New  Age  from  the 
days  of  the  Fathers.  It  was  a  most  noble  and  necessary 
design  thus  to  show  that  all  Revelation  was  one  unimpeded 
progress  in  knowledge  and  broadening  of  the  light.  This 
Gospel  was  the  eternal  witness  against  those  heretical  Chris- 
tians who,  like  the  Marcionites  and  many  Gnostic  sects,  strove 
to  dissever  themselves  wholly  from  the  God  who  had  revealed 
Himself  of  old  time  to  patriarchs  and  projihets.  It  was  St. 
Matthew's  task  to  show  that  in  the  Old  Testament  the  New 
was  prefigured,  and  in  the  New  Testament  the  Old  was 
revealed.  He  might  have  used  the  words  quoted  by  the  old 
Carthusian  monk  in  answer  to  the  frivolous  youth  who  asked 
him  how  he  had  managed  to  get  through  his  life,  "Cogitavi 

^  Tots  diro  'louSatiTjuoD  iriffTfva'aati'.  Orig.  op.  ICtiseb.  ff.  E.  vi.  25.  The 
word  "lawlessness"  {avofxia)  occurs  four  times  in  St.  Matthew  (vii.  23  ;  xiii. 
41  ;  xxiii.  28  ;  xxiv.  12),  but  iu  no  other  Gospel.  The  comiiarison  of  Mark 
vii.  3,  4,  with  Matt.  xv.  1,  2,  illustrates  the  diirerence  between  one  who  wrote 
for  Konians  and  one  who  wrote  for  Jews. 

■•'  This  was  noticed  as  early  as  the  days  of  Irenaeus.  rl  kutA  MaTdatov  d 
irpbs  'louSai'ous  dypd<pr]  ouroi  yap  iireBvaovv  iravv  (T(p6Spa  fK  airfp^aros  ^a$iS 
Xpi(TT6v.  'O  5i  Mardaios  It<  fiaWov  <T(pohpoT tpav  eX'^'"  Toiavri}v 
iiTiOvfilav  ■navroiios  fffirfvSe  irKT)po<poplav  iropex*'"  "■vTots  (cd.  Stiereu's  Iren. 
fr.  XX  ix). 


Design  of  St.  3IaUheiv.  39 

dies  antiques,  et  annos  aeternos  in  mente  habui" — "I  Lave  st. matthew 
considered  the  days  of  old,  and  the  years  of  ancient  times." 

7.  These  are  not  mere  theories.  St.  Matthew  alone  calls 
Jerusalem  the  "  Holy  City,"  and  the  "  Holy  Place,"  and  the 
"City  of  the  great  King."  Seven  times  he  calls  our  Lord  "the 
Son  of  David."  He  derives  His  genealogy  not,  as  St.  Luke 
does,  from  Adam  the  ancestor  of  mankind,  but  from  Abraham 
the  Jewish  forefather,  and  David  the  Jewish  king.  He  alone 
speaks  of  Christianity  as  "  the  consummation  of  the  Ages." 
He  has  upwards  of  sixty  references  to  the  Old  Testament. 
His  ever-recurring  formula  is,  "  that  it  might  be  fulfilled,"  ^ 
The  words  "  I  am  not  come  to  destroy  but  to  fulfil,"  modified 
by  "  except  your  righteousness  exceed  the  righteousness  of 
the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  ye  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom 
of  heaven,"  might  be  regarded  as  the  doctrinal  epitome  of 
large  portions  of  his  Gospel.  He  conceived  of  Christianity 
primarily  as  the  "bright  consummate  flower"  and  perfected 
fruit  of  Judaism.^  The  stumbling-blocks  of  the  Jew  were  the 
deep  humiliation  of  Jesus;  His  rejection  by  their  rulers;  Plis 
death  of  shame;  His  depreciation  of  their  oral  and  Levitic 
Law.  It  was  St.  Matthew's  task  to  show,  by  the  simple 
testimony  of  truth,  that  in  all  this  Jesus  had  but  fulfilled 
to  the  letter  the  ideal  of  their  grandest  prophecies.^      He 

^  Thus  ill  quotations  used  by  our  Lord  we  have  yiy pairrai,  di/anX-npovTai, 
■Kws  ■jrATjpoodwai  (iv.  14  ;  xiii.  14  ;  xxvi.  54).  In  other  quotations  we  have 
'li'a  irKnpco&ri  rb  pr)Qiv  (i.  22  ;  ii.  15  ;  iv.  14  ;  viii.  17  ;  xii.  17  ;  xiii.  35  ;  xxi.  4  ; 
xxvii.  9)  ;  ovrw  ytypairrai  (ii.  5)  ;  i-KK7}pwQrj  r6  priQii>  (ii.  18).  The  verb 
vKvpoo  is  not  thus  used  by  the  other  Synoptists,  but  occurs  six  times  in  St. 
John  (Mark  xv.  28,  is  omitted  in  the  R.  V.).  On  these  quotations  see  fui'ther 
in  Note  2. 

2  St.  Matthew's  trustworthiness  and  impartiality  are  proved  by  the  fact  that 
the  broader  truths  of  "Pauline"  Christianity  are  by  no  means  suppressed. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  Gospel  we  have  the  adoration  of  the  Infant  Christ 
by  the  Gentile  Magi,  and  in  xxviii.  15,  the  word  "Jews  "  is  used  even  by  St. 
Matthew,  as  by  the  other  Evangelists,  as  though  he  were  outside  the  circle  of 
Jewish  nationality.  {See  infra,  note  2,  on  the  Unity  of  the  Gospel.)  Even 
into  the  Genealogy  of  the  "Son  of  David"  he  has  introduced  the  names  of 
Rahab  the  Canaauite  and  Ruth  the  Moabitess. 

3  His  humiliation,  Zech.  ix.  9  ;  Is.  liii.  3  ;  Rs.  xxii.  6  ;  Matt.  viii.  17  ;  Ps. 
cxviii.  22,  23  ;  His  rejection.  Is.  liii.  1  ;  xxix.  13,  14  ;  vi.  9,  10  ;  Matt.  xiii. 
14,  15  ;  xxi.  42  ;  xv.  7—9  ;  His  death,  Zech.  xiii.  7  ;  xi.  12,  13  ;  Matt. 
xxvi.  31,  14 — 16  ;  xxvii.  3 — 10  ;  His  depreciation  of  their  Levitic  and  oral 
law,  Is  xxix.  13  ;  Matt.  xv.  1 — 9. 


40  The  Gos2JcIs. 

ST.  MATTHEW  clcsircJ  to  sct  Jesus  forth  to  them  as  their  very  Christ ;  the 
Legislator  of  a  new  and  s})i ritual  Law ;  the  King  of  a  new 
and  spiritual  dominion ;  the  Prophet  of  a  new  and  universal 
Church ;  the  Divine  Messiah  who  should  soon  resolve  all 
doubts,  returning  on  the  clouds  of  Heaven  to  judge  and  save. 
Thus  in  St.  Matthew  we  have  the  very  essence  of  the  Chris- 
tian faith — the  close  of  the  old  ^ons ;  the  dawn  of  the  last 
Revelation ;  the  proclamation  of  that  which  he  alone  of  the 
Evangelists  calls,  in  Jewish  phraseology,  "  the  Kingdom  of 
the  Heavens."  ^ 

8.  Such,  then,  being  his  special  aim,  what  is  the  general 
idea  and  outline  of  his  book  ? 

Among  the  characteristics  of  this  Gospel  must  certainly  be 
noticed  a  certain  sternness — a  certain  exclusiveness  which  is 
in  striking  contrast  with,  the  tone  of  St.  Luke.  It  is  St. 
Matthew  alone  who  records,  and  that  twice  over  (xx.  16,  xxii. 
14),  the  remarkable  saying  of  Christ  about  "the  called"  and 
"  the  chosen."  "  More  than  the  rest  of  the  Evangelists,"  it  has 
been  said,  "  He  seems  to  move  in  evil  days,  and  amid  a  race  of 
backsliders;  among  dogs  and  swine  who  are  unworthy  of 
the  words  of  truth;  among  the  tares  sown  by  the  enemy; 
among  fishermen  who  have  to  cast  back  many  of  the  fish 
caught  in  the  net  of  the  Gospel.  The  broad  way  is  ever  in 
his  mind,  and  the  multitude  of  those  that  go  thereby;  and 
the  guest  without  the  wedding  garment;  and  the  foolish 
virgins;  and  the  goats;  and  those  who  cast  out  devils  in 
the  name  of  the  Lord,  and  yet  are  rejected."  It  has  been 
conjectured  that  Antinomian  tendencies  may  at  this  time 
have  begun  to  be  developed  among  the  Hollenising  Jews. 
The  Evangelist  lays  special  stress  on  the  guilt  of  hypocrisy 
and   religious  ostentation,  and  viewed   in  the   light  of   the 

1  The  use  of  the  Hebraism  ovpavol  (2  Cor.  xii.  2)  in  St.  Matthew  is 
peculiar.  'H  0acn\fla  ruv  ovpavuv  occurs  in  this  Gospel  thirty  two  times.  Tlie 
other  Christian  writers  use  "  the  kingdom  of  God."  The  plural  "hoaveus" 
is  used  by  St.  Matthew  where  there  is  a  reference  to  the  dwelling-place  of 
God  {6  iraTfip  d  (V  To~s  oipavols).  He  uses  it  even  in  the  first  clause  of  the 
Lord's  prayer.  St.  John  does  not  use  the  plural  once,  and  Luke  only  foui 
times. 


U7iity  of  tlie  Gospel.  41 

approaching  Fall  of  Jerusalem  and  the  wavering  or  retro- 
gression of  great  masses  of  the  nation,  the  introduction  into 
the  Lord's  Prayer  of  "  Deliver  us  from  the  evil,"  and  of  the 
clause  (xxiv.  12)  "by  reason  of  the  multiiDlication  of  law- 
lessness the  love  of  many  is  waxed  cold,"  will  seem  not  only 
appropriate  but  typical  of  the  character  of  the  whole  of  the 
First  Gospel.^ 

9.  Few  have  fully  realised  the  antique  simplicity,  the 
monumental  grandeur  with  which  the  Evangelist  has  carried 
out  his  design,  the  magnificent  unity  and  fine  construction  of 
this  Gospel.  We  see  throughout  an  art  which  is  all  the 
more  effective  from  its  simple  unconsciousness.  He  begins 
with  the  genealogy,  to  show  that  Jesus  was  of  royal  descent 
— the  root  and  offspring  of  David.  Then,  just  as  the  old 
religious  painters  of  Italy  throw  out  their  exquisite  colours  on 
a  golden  ground,  so  the  Evangelist  paints  his  divine  picture 
on  the  golden  background  of  the  Nativity  and  the  Infancy. 
Even  in  doing  this  he  shadows  forth  the  double  motive  of  his 
picture — which  is  partly  to  show  that  Christ's  life,  in  its  every 
incident,  fulfilled  the  words  of  ancient  prophecy ;  and,  partly 
that  He  came  not  only  to  reign  but  to  suffer,  not  only  to 
reveal  but  to  die.  Hence,  side  by  side  with  the  homage  of 
the  Magi  we  have  the  massacre  of  the  Innocents;  side  by 
side  with  the  royal  descent  the  flight  into  Egypt;  side  by 
side  with  the  visions  of  angels  the  taunt  of  "  the  Nazarene." 
We  see  from  the  first  that  Jesus  was  the  Messiah  by  suffer- 
ing, though  He  was  not  only  the  Son  of  David,  but  the  Son 
of  God.     The  plan  is  carried  out  with  perfect  consistency. 

I.  After  the  Genealogy  and  the  Infancy  begins  the  Prelude 
— the  ministry  of  the  Forerunner  and  the  preparation  of  the 
Christ.  Each  has  its  heavenly  radiance,  each  its  deepened 
shadow.  The  splendid  success  of  the  Baptist  ends  in  his 
melancholy  imprisonment;  the  Saviour's  unction  from  the 
Holy  One  is  followed  immediately  by  the  Temptation  in  the 
Wilderness. 

i  Dr.  Abbott  in  Enc.  Britan.  s.  v.  "Gospels." 


42  The  Gospels. 

6r.  MATTHEW  II.  Aftcr  thls  preludc  the  central  mass  of  tlie  book  falls 
into  two  great  divisions — (a)  the  Ministry  and  (b)  the  Passion ; 
Christ  the  Redeemer  by  revelation ;  Christ  the  Redeemer 
by  death ;  Christ  the  Word  of  God,  making  His  Father 
known ;  Christ  the  Lamb  of  God,  dying  for  the  sins  of  the 
world. 

A.  The  Ministry  begins  at  iv.  12  with  a  swift  preliminary 
glance  at  the  prophecy  which  marked  out  Galilee  as  its 
chosen  scene.^  At  iv.  23  the  Evangelist  sums  up  that 
ministry  under  the  two  great  heads  of  "preaching  the  Gospel 
of  the  kingdom"  and  "healing  all  manner  of  disease."  Thus, 
externally,  he  divides  this  long  section  of  his  record  into 
the  two  main  divisions  of  Words  and  Acts.  This  part  of 
the  Gospel  occupies  from  iv.  17  to  xvi.  21.  At  iv.  17  begins 
the  ministry  of  life  ;  at  xvi.  21  begins  the  entrance  into  the 
path  of  death.  Each  section,  though  their  prominence  is 
completely  obliterated  by  our  division  into  chapters,  is 
marked  by  a  repetition  of  the  same  emphatic  phrase  at 
iv.  17:  "From  that  time  forth  began  Jesus  to  preach"; 
at  xvi.  21,  "from  that  time  forth  began  Jesus  to  show  unto 
His  disciples  how  that  he  must  .  .  .  be  killed." 

The  first  of  these  two  chief  sections — that  of  the  Public 

iv.  17 -xvi.  21.  Preaching — sets  forth  the  Words  and  Acts  of  Christ  in  four 
stages.  The  first  stage  (o)  consists  of  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount  and  ten  miracles.  First,  Christ  as  the  New  Prophet 
and  Lawgiver,  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  lays  down  the 
v.-viii.  high  spiritual  laws  of  the  kingdom  of  Heaven.  There  are 
no  rolling  clouds  as  at  Sinai,  no  crashing  thunder,  no  careering 
fires,  no  congregated  wings  of  the  rushing  angelic  host ;  yet 
tliis  Galilean  hill,  with  its  calm  voice,  its  lowly  Teacher,  its 
listening  multitude,  its  lilies  sprinkled  on  the  green  grass, 
is  the  Sinai  of  the  New  Covenant.  Those  beatitudes  are  its 
decalogue,  those  virtues  its  ritual.  Prayer  and  alms,  holi- 
ness and  humbleness  of  heart — there  you  have  the  Leviticus 
of  Christianity,  the  Pentateuch  of  spiritual  worship.  The 
1  Isaiah  ix.  1  :  Matt.  iv.  14—16. 


Words  and  Deeds.  43 

glow  of  teaching  is  followed  by  the  blaze  of  miracle.     With  st.  mattdeav 
other   words   of   instruction    are    interwoven   ten   successive 
works  of  power,  which  are  only  selected  as  specimens  of  an 
unrecorded  multitude. 

Then  (/3)  at  chapter  x.  begins  the  second  stage  of  Words 
and  Deeds.  A  wider  phase  of  work  is  inaugurated  by  the 
great  Discourse  to  the  Twelve.  After  this,  amid  other 
teachings  of  ever  deepening  solemnity — the  doubts  of  John 
the  Baptist,  the  rejection  by  the  cities  of  Galilee,  the  alarm 
of  His  own  family,  the  hatred  of  the  Pharisees — there  blazes 
forth  the  one  transcendent  and  concentrated  miracle — the 
healing  of  the  demoniac,  blind  and  dumb.  But  even  such  a 
miracle  as  this  only  kindles  in  His  enemies,  not  faith,  but 
blasphemy;  and  we  see  that  it  is  not  by  signs  either  from 
heaven  or  on  earth  that  the  reason  of  man  can  be  convinced, 
or  his  heart  won  to  faith  and  love. 

(7)  Accordingly,  in  chapter  xiii.  a  third  phase  of  the 
ministry  of  W^ords  and  Deeds  is  ushered  in  by  a  new  kind 
of  teaching,  at  once  penal  and  stimulative.  There  we 
have  seven  consecutive  Parables,  which  mark  an  advance 
of  conflict  and  opposition.  This  section  ends  with  the 
miracles  of  Feeding  the  Five  Thousand  and  Walking  on  the 
Sea. 

Then  we  have  (S)  a  fourth  stage  of  Discourses  and  Miracles. 

It  opens  at  chapter  xv.  with  the  denunciation  of  the   Oral 

Law,  and  after  a  period  of  flight  and  wandering  even  to  the 

limit  of  heathen  lands,  it  ends  with  the  healing  of  the  Syro- 

phoenician  girl ;  the  cure  of  many  sick  ;  the  feeding  of  the 

four  thousand ;  the  mocking  disbelief  of  the  Pharisees ;  and 

the  acknowledgment  by  Peter  and  the  Apostles,  that  Jesus  is 

the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God.^ 

^  Keim  attaches  primary  importance  to  the  Gospel  of  St.  Matthew  (Jesus  of 
Naznra,  i.  64 — 94,  E.  T.)  and  his  remarks  are  suggestive.  He  says,  "  Not- 
withstanding individual  instances  of  antidpatinn  or  anachronism,  we  find  on 
the  whole  a  beautiful  and  continuous  development  of  the  history  of  Jesus.  His 
preaching  passes  gradually  from  an  approaching  kingdom  to  one  that  has 
come,  and  to  one  that  is  yet  in  the  future  ;  from  a  strong  insistence  upon  the 
liaw  to  a  freer  and  freer  criticism  of  it ;  from  a  calling  of  all  Israel  to  a  calling 
of  babes  and  sucklings  ;  from  a  calling  of  the  Jews  to  a  calling  of  the  Gentiles  ; 


44  The  Gospels. 

I  would  ask  you  to  observe  how  tbrougli  these  Acts  of 
the  divine  drama — these  objective  stages  of  Word  and  Deed 
— there  run  the  undertones  of  two  other  deep  subjective 
contrasts — one,  the  acceptance  of  Christ  by  His  chosen, 
contrasted  with  His  rejection  by  the  world ;  the  other,  a  yet 
more  universal  contrast  at  every  stage,  the  contrast  between 
the  sin  and  misery  of  man  and  the  infinite  compassion  and 
love  of  the  Incarnate  Lord.  These  marvellous  and  subtle 
contrasts  are  not  due  to  any  skill  of  the  Evangelist  himself. 
It  is  only  because  he  bears  witness  to  the  Truth,  and  is  in- 
spired by  the  Spirit  of  Truth,  that  the  simple  Galilean 
tax-gatherer  becomes  a  divine  musician,  so  that — falling  from 
concord  or  sweet  accord  to  discord  or  harsh  accord  through 
noble  yet  unsuspected  harmonies, — 

"  his  volant  touch, 
Instinct,  through  all  proportions  high  and  low 
Flies  and  pursues  transverse  the  resonant  fugue." 

B.  Then,  with  the  same  formula — "  From  this  time  forth 
began  Jesus" — we  enter,  in  xvi.  21,  on  the  second  great 
section — the  Passion  Music  of  this  Divine  Tragedy.  The 
world  has  rejected  Christ,  but  the  Apostles  have  confessed 
Him.  Henceforth  the  main  task  of  the  Saviour  is  not  the 
appeal  to  the  multitudes,  but  the  training  of  the  disciples. 
From  this  point  Jesus  consciously  enters  upon  the  path  of 
Death.  Henceforth  He  is  recognised  by  His  disciisles ;  but 
the  struggle  for  life  with  the  leaders  of  His  people  has 
begun.  Here,  again,  we  have  four  stages.  With  ever-ad- 
vancing clearness  at  Caesarea ;  at  Capernaum  ;  on  the  road  to 
Jerusalem;  at  Jerusalem  itself;  the  Lord  predicts  His  death, 
His  betrayal.  His  mockery.  His  crucifixion;  and  each  time 
with  these,  His  Resurrection.  After  the  first  prediction 
comes  the  Transfiguration  ;  and  in  each  case  we  have  the 
"  rainbow,  like  unto  an  emerald,"  spanning  the  black  clouds 
— the  line  of  glory  transfusing  or  running  side  by  side  with 

from  a  prcacliing  of  the  Messiah  to  a  preaching  of  the  Son  and  finally  to  a 
preaching  of  the  Cross."  Later  on  he  calls  it  "antiijue  history,"  and  a 
"grand  old  granitic  Iiook." 


Grandeur  of  the  Close.  45 

the  line  of  humiliation.  The  fourth  prediction  is  preluded  st.  matthew 
in  the  23rd  and  24th  chapters  by  two  discourses  of  over- 
whelming significance,  viz.  the  denunciation  in  which  He 
hurls  at  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites,  His  thunders 
and  lightnings  of  terrible  invective ;  and  the  eschatological 
discourse  on  the  fall  of  Jerusalem  and  the  end  of  the 
world. 

(IS)  After  this  fourth  prediction  follows  at  once  the  unspeak- 
able tragedy  of  the  closing  scenes — the  anointing ;  the  betrayal ; 
the  desertion ;  the  arrest ;  the  agony  ;  the  denials ;  the  trial ; 
the  mockery ;  the  torture ;  the  cross  ;  the  grave.  And  then, 
after  this  midnight  of  horror  and  of  mystery,  as  with  one 
awful  "  Now  " — from  the  grey  dawn  to  the  rosy  flush,  to  the 
bursting  splendour,  to  the  risen  sun,  to  the  all-pervading 
daylight — in  pulse  after  pulse  of  radiance,  in  flood  after 
flood  of  sunshine — there  beam  upon  us  the  empty  sepulchre ; 
the  angel  visions ;  the  triumph  over  death  ;  the  Resurrection ; 
the  appearances  to  the  assembled  disciples ;  the  vast  com- 
mission; the  illimitable  promise  of  a  Presence  with  us  for 
evermore.  Language  will  hardly  describe  for  us  the  grandeur 
of  this  consummation.  We  require  for  its  due  apprehension 
the  yearning  passion  of  music.  You  may  have  heard 
Haydn's  oratorio  of  the  Creation.  You  remember  there 
the  fine  recitative,  "  And  God  said.  Let  there  be  light "  ; 
and  then  how  the  music  begins  first  as  in  a  rapid  flow  of 
soft  and  golden  ripples,  which  roll  on  into  wave  after  wave, 
billow  after  billow,  tide  on  tide  of  resistless  sound,  as  though 
heaved  forward  by  the  infinite  world  of  waters  behind  it, 
till  at  last,  in  a  crashing,  overwhelming  outburst,  which  con- 
centrates into  one  crowning  note  all  wonder  and  all  exulta- 
tion, come  forth  the  words,  "And  there  was  Light!"  This 
alone  gives  me  a  faint  conception  of  what  must  have  been, 
to  those  sorrowing  and  half-crushed  disciples,  the  gladness — • 
and  we  may  still  catch  an  echo  of  that  gladness  in  the 
page  of  the  Evangelist — of  that  first  Easter  Day. 

Such,  then,  is  St.  Matthew's  Gospel — the  Didactic  Gospel ; 


46  Tlie  Gospels. 

ST.  jiATTiiEAv  tliG  GospcI  of  tliG  past  fulfilled  ;  the  Gospel  of  the  Prophesied 
Messiah ;  the  Gospel  of  the  nine  Beatitudes ;  the  Gospel 
of  the  seven  consecutive  Parables ;  of  the  ten  consecutive 
miracles ;  of  the  five  continuous  discourses,  of  which  one  is 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  In  reading  it,  in  looking  on  at 
this  divinest  of  all  tragedies,  we,  as  it  wore, 

"  Sit  in  a  theatre  to  see 
A  play  of  hopes  and  fears, 
While  the  orchestra  breathes  fitfully, 
The  music  of  the  spheres." 

We  see  its  five  great  Acts — the  Infancy;  the  Prelude; 
tlie  Ministry,  in  its  four  stages  of  Words  and  Deeds;  the 
Doom,  in  its  four  advancing  predictions ;  and  then  the 
Triumph.  Throughout  these  scenes  there  run  the  elements 
which  constitute  all  the  grandeur  of  a  heavenly  drama 
— variety,  progress,  contrast,  the  incomparable  depth  of 
pathos  relieved  and  overflooded  by  the  incomparable 
exultation  of  final  Victory,  From  the  cradle  to  the  Resur- 
rection the  action  never  pauses.  Side  by  side  in  overwhelm- 
ing scenes  the  Teaching  advances  in  depth  and  clearness, 
the  Power  in  mercy  and  miracle.  Side  by  side  there 
is  an  increasing  vehemence  of  hatred,  and  an  intensified 
adoration  of  love  and  trust.  Louder  and  louder  roll  over 
the  maddened  Pharisees  the  terrible  thunders  of  His  re- 
buke ;  softer  and  more  softly  are  breathed  to  His  disciples  the 
promises  of  His  infinite  consolation.  In  the  early  brightness 
of  that  Galilean  spring  of  His  ministry.  He  is  an  honoured 
Prof)het ;  the  Disciples  follow,  the  people  believe,  the  Phari- 
sees respect  Him.  Then  the  year  darkens  into  gathering 
and  deepening  opposition,  but  meanwhile  the  Disciples  have 
advanced  from  love  to  adoration,  imtil  to  the  people  He 
becomes  an  excommunicated  Wanderer,  but  to  His  own  the 
Son  of  God.  Then  the  pillars  of  the  kingdom  of  Heaven 
seem  to  be  shattered  to  the  lowest  foundations,  as  its  King 
descends,  amid  the  derision  of  raging  and  triumphant 
enemies,   through   shame    and    anguish,    to    the   Valley   of 


"Immeasurably  Effective."  47 

Death,     But,  Jo !  when  all  seems  lost — when  the  sun  and  st.  mattukw. 

moon  have  shrunk  into  darkness  from  the  dreadful  sacrifice; 

when  the  kings  and  peoples  of  the  earth  seem  to  have  burst 

His  bands  asunder  and  cast  away  His  cords  from  them ;  when 

the  Powers  of  Evil  seem  to  have  won  their  last  and  most 

awful  victory,  suddenly,  as  with  a  flash  of  lightning  out  of 

the    blue    sky,    the    Cross    becomes   the   Throne,   and    the 

Sepulchre  the  portal  of   Immortality  ;    and   shattering  the 

gates  of  brass,  and  smiting  the  bars  of  iron  in  sunder.  Ho 

rises  from  Death  to  Life,  from  Earth  to  Heaven,  and  sends 

forth  His  twelve  poor  chosen  ones,  armed  with  the  implement 

of  a  malefactor's  torture,  and  with  "  the  irresistible  might  of 

^veakness,"  to  shake,  to  conquer,  to  evangelise,  to  enlighten, 

to  rule  the  world. 

10.  And  thus  the  book  carries  with  it  internal  evidence  of 
its  own  sacredness.  How  could  the  unlettered  Galilean 
publican  have  written  unaided  a  book  so  "  immeasurably 
effective "  ?  How  could  he  have  sketched  out  a  Tragedy 
which,  by  the  simple  divineness  of  its  theme,  dwarfs  the 
greatest  of  all  earthly  tragedies  ?  How  could  he  have  com- 
posed a  Passion-music  which,  from  the  flute-like  strains  of 
its  sweet  overture  to  the  "  multitudinous  chorale "  of  its 
close,  accumulates  with  unflagging  power  the  mightiest 
elements  of  pathos  and  of  grandeur  ?  Why  would  the  world 
lose  less  from  the  loss  of  Hamlet,  and  the  Divina  Comedia, 
and  the  Paradise  Lost  together,  than  from  the  loss  of  this 
brief  book  of  the  desijised  Galilean  ?  Because  this  book  is 
due  not  to  genius,  but  to  revelation ;  not  to  art,  but  to  truth. 
The  words  of  the  man  are  nothing,  save  as  they  are  the 
record  of  the  manifestation  of  God.  The  greatness  of  the 
work  lay,  not  in  the  writer,  but  in  Him  of  whom  he  wrote ; 
and  in  this,  that  without  art,  without  style,  without  rhetoric, 
ill  perfect  and  unconscious  simplicity,  he  sets  forth  the  facts 
as  they  were.  He  is  "  immeasurably  effective "  because  he 
nowhere  aims  at  effectiveness.  He  thought  of  nothing  less. 
Though  ^ve  find  in  his  book  the  "  simple  grandeur  of  menu- 


48  The  Gospels. 

ST.  MATTHEW  mcntal  writing,"  he  brought  to  his  work  but  three  intellectual 
endowments  :  the  love  of  truth  ;  an  exquisite  sensibility  to  the 
mercy  of  God  and  the  misery  of  man ;  and  a  deep  sense  of 
that  increasing  purpose  wdiich  runs  through  the  ages.  And 
thus  endowed  by  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  he  has  given  us 
this  unique  History,  so  genuinely  human,  and  therefore,  in  all 
its  parts,  so  genuinely  divine;  a  mighty,  because  a  simply 
truthful,  record  of  the  words  and  deeds  of  Him  Avho  was  both 
God  and  man.  The  Evangelist  held  up  to  the  truth  a  soul 
which  was  a  sphere  of  crystal  in  its  purity  and  its  integrity ; 
and  therefore  in  that  crystal  sphere  we  see  the  King  in  His 
Beauty;  the  Son  of  David  ;  the  Messiah  of  Prophecy;  the 
Lord  and  Saviour  of  all  the  World — our  Lord,  mir  Saviour. 
If  with  all  our  hearts  we  truly  seek  Him,  we  shall  find  Him 
there.  God  grant  that  w^e  may  find  Him  to  our  souls' 
eternal  peace  ! 


Analysis.  49 

NOTE    I,  ^"^^  MATTHEW. 

ANALYSIS   OF  ST.   MATTHEW. 

The  Analysis  of  St.  Matthew  may  be  briefly  summed  up  as  follows 
in  its  main  outline  and  articulations  (omitting  minor  incidents). 

I.  The  Prelude  (i-iv.  12). 

1.  The  Genealogy  (i.  1-17). 

2.  The  Nativity  (i.  18  -25). 

3.  The  Infancy  (ii). 

4.  The  Preaching  of  the  Baptist  (iii.  1-12). 

5.  The  Baptism  (iii.  13-17). 
C.  The  Temptation  (iv.  1-11). 

7.  The  withdrawal  into  Galilee  (iv.  12-16). 
II.    The  Ministry  in  its  period  of  acceptance— Words  and  Deeds 
(iv.  17  ;  xvi.  21). 

A.  Calling  of  the  Apostles  (iv.  18-22). 
Miracles  in  general  (iv.  23-25). 
Words.         The  Sermon  on  the  Mount  (v-viii). 

Deeds.  Ten  Miracles  (interwoven  with  other  incidents)  (viii-ix). 

Words.  B.     Mission  of  the  Twelve,  and  other  discourses  (x.  i-xi.  8). 
Deeds.  The  withered  hand  (xi.  9-21). 

Healing  of  a  dumb,  blind,  demoniac,  with  other  incidents 
(xi.  22-45). 

C.  The  period  of  opposition. 
Words.         Seven  Parables  (xiii). 

Deeds.  Feeding  the  five  thousand  (xiv.  13-21). 

Walking  on  the  Sea,  and  other  miracles  (xiv.  22-36). 

D.  Open  rupture  with  the  Jewish  authorities. 
Words.         Denunciation  of  the  Pharisees  (xv.  1-20). 

Deeds.  The  Syrophoenician  woman,  and  other  miracles  (xv.  21-31). 

Feeding  the  four  thousai.d  (xv.  32-39). 
The  great  confession  (xvi.  13-20). 

III.    Entrance    on  the  path  of  death,  with  record  of  other  Words, 
and  Deeds. 
First  prophecy  at  Caesarea  Philippi  (xvi.  21). 
Second  prophecy  at  Capernaum  (xvii.  22). 
Third  prophecy  near  Jerusalem  (xx.  17). 
Fourth  prophecy  at  Jerusalem  (xxvi.  1,  2). 
IV.  The  closing  scenes,  the  death  and  burial  (xxvi.  3-xxvii). 
V.  The  Resurrection  (xxviii). 


,41^ 


50  Tlie  Gospels. 


NOTE  II. 

UNITY   OF   ST.    MATTHEW'S   GOSPEL. 

Tliere  is  scarcely  a  book  of  the  New  Testament  which  some  Gennan 
critic  has  not  attempted  to  disintegrate,  by  dividing  it  between  various 
authors,  editors,  or  interpolators.  This  Gospel,  in  spite  of  the  grand 
and  obvious  unity  which  underlies  the  book,  is  no  exception. 

1,  Tlius,  one  class  of  critics — Schleiermacher,  Kostlin,  Weiszacker, 
Iloltzmann,  Ewald  and  others — have  attempted  a  separation  between 
the  sayings  and  the  acts.    But 

(i.)  The  attempt  was  suj^'gcsted  by  the  purely  mistaken  notion  that 
when  Papias  said  that  Matthew  composed  the  "  oracles "  (koyta,  see 
Rom.  iii.  2)  in  the  Hebrew  language,  he  meant  by  oracles  "  collections 
of  sayings."  It  is  now  understood  that  "logia,"  as  used  by  Papias  and 
other  writers,  does  not  mean  merely  "sayings"  but  "records."  Indeed 
in  the  same  passage  Papias  himself  says  that  St.  Mark's  Gospel  was 
not  a  collection  of  the  Lord's  words  {a-vvra^n  KvpiaKciv  Xoyuv,  v.l.  \oy'icdv) 
though  he  had  just  described  it  as  containing  "the  things  either  said  or 
done  by  Christ."  ^ 

(ii.)  It  is  impossible  to  separate  the  "Words  from  the  Deeds  in  the 
Gospel  of  St.  Matthew.  They  are  inextricably  interwoven  ;  they  pre- 
suppose and  explain  each  other. 

We  need  not  therefore  linger  over  a  theory  "the  mechanical  shallow- 
ness of  which  is  fatal  to  the  organic  life  of  the  Gospel,  and  which  falls 
to  pieces  in  the  very  hands  of  its  inventor."  (Kerm.) 

2.  A  second  attempt  to  divide  the  Gospel  between  two  authors  has 
arisen  from  the  asserted  discrepancies  of  opinion  which  it  contains.^ 

It  is  said  that  on  the  one  hand  the  Gospel  is  Judaic  and  parti cularist, 
on  the  other  hand  universalist  and  liberal.  We  have  in  it  alike  such 
Jewish-Christian  elements  as  the  Messiah  of  the  Jews,  and  the  sanctity 
of  the  Sabbath,  and  a  prohibition  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  Gentiles, 
and  the  characterisation  of  the  Gentiles  as  "  dogs  ; "  (see  v.  17,  19  ;  vii.  6  ; 
X.  5,  6  ;  XV,  24  ;  xix.  28,  &c.) ;  and  on  the  other  hand  liberal  narratives, 
like  the  Adoration  of  the  Magi,  and  the  centurion  of  Capernaum,  and  such 
superiority  to  mere  national  prejudices  as  that  shown  in  the  record  of 
discourses  which  placed  Tyre  and  Sidon  and  Nineveh  above  Jerusalem. 
We  have  also  the  command  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  all  the  Gentiles 
(See  viii.  11  ;  xii.  21  ;  xxiv.  2  ;  xxii.  7  ;  xxiii.  38  ;  xxiv.  14  ;  xxviii. 
15,  19  ;  the  parables  of  the  Husbandman,  &c.  (xx.  1-16  ;  xxi.  33-44 ; 
xxii.  1-14),  &c. 

^  See  Bishop  Lightfoot,  Conkmp.  Rev.  August,  1875. 

-  "  Dcr  Evgst.  Mattliiius  hat  nuu  aber  einen  Januskopf,  dessen  cincs  Gesicht 
in  das  Griechische,  das  andre  in  das  Scniitische  weist."     Hilgenfeld,  Einleit. 


Attempts  at  Disintegration.  51 

Do  these  differences  necessitate  tlie  supposition  that  a  Judaic  Gospel  st.  mattuew. 
has  been  interpolated,  or  edited  {uherarheitet)  by  a  liberal  Christian  ? 

The  answer  is  simple.  The  asserted  discrepancy  lay  in  facts  which 
found  their  synthesis  in  wider  truths.  JesiTs  was  both  the  Messiah  of 
the  Jew  and  the  Saviour  of  the  World,  He  came  to  the  Jew  first,  and 
afterwards  to  the  Gentile.  The  Evangelist  was  a  Jewish  Christian,  but 
he  could  not  suppress,  nor  did  he  desire  to  suppress,  facts  and  words  which 
belonged  to  an  order  of  thoughts  infinitely  wider  than  that  in  which 
he  had  been  trained.  There  is  no  contradiction  between  these  different 
points  of  view.     They  are  but  various  aspects  of  many-sided  truths. 

3.  A  third  attempt  to  divide  the  Gospel  has  been  based  on  the  fact 
that  of  the  numerous  quotations  from  the  Old  Testament  some  are  from 
the  Septuagint,  others  are  rendered  from  the  original  Hebrew. 

Tliis  phenomenon,  first  noticed  by  Credner  and  then  by  Bleek, 
Iloltzmann  and  others,  has  been  minutely  examined  especially  by 
Anger.     The  result  of  his  investigations  is — 

(i.)  That  both  kind  of  quotations  are  scattered  throughout  the  Gospel. 

(ii.)  That  St.  Matthew's  cyclic  quotations  {i.e.  those  which  he  has  in 
common  with  the  general  cycle  of  Synoptic  tradition)  are  from  the  LXX., 
but  that  in  his  individual  quotations — those  which  involve  remarks  and 
inferences  of  his  own — he  generally  reverts  to  the  Hebrew. 

(iii.)  That  quotations  from  the  LXX.  bear  the  proportion  of  about 
tliirty  to  ten  to  those  from  the  Hebrew. 

(iv.)  That  the  quotations  from  the  LXX.  preponderate  in  the  narrative, 
those  from  the  Hebrew  in  the  reflections.^ 

It  is  not  easy  to  account  for  this  peculiarity.  It  may  have  been  due 
to  the  idiosyncrasy  of  the  writer  ;  to  the  documents  which  he  used  ;  to 
the  accident  of  having  immediate  access  to  a  Hebrew  or  Greek  copy 
of  the  Bible,  or  to  many  other  unexplained  causes.  The  attempt  to 
divide  the  book  between  two  authors  with  reference  to  these  quota- 
tion is  a  wholesale  failure. 

There  is  then  no  ground  whatever  for  denying  the  Unity  of  the  Book, 
while  there  are  the  strongest  reasons  for  asserting  it.'- 

^  In  the  sayings  of  Jesus  only  xi.  10  is  from  the  Hebrew  ;  hut  in  the 
Evangelist's  own  comments,  ii.  6,  15,  23  ;  iv.  15  ;  viii.  17  ;  xii.  18  ;  xxi.  5  ; 
xxvii.  9.  Yet  he  reverts  to  the  LXX.  even  in  his  own  remarks  in  i.  23  ;  iii. 
3.  The  strange  thing  is  that  in  some  of  these  instances  {e.g.,  ii.  6,  18  ;  iv. 
15  ;  xxi.  5),  the  LXX.  would  have  served  his  purpose  as  well  though  not  in 
ii.  5  ;  xxvi.  31  (see  for  fuller  details,  Hilgenfeld,  p.  459-497).  Perhaps  as 
a  rule  the  Evangelist  thought  it  right  to  refer  as  often  as  possible  to  the 
Hebrew  wlien  he  applies  the  Prophecies. 

-  Not  only  the  same  essential  pnvpose  is  obvious  throughout  the  hook,  but 
also  the  same  formulae,  such  as  "the  kingdom  of  the  heavens"  thirty-two 
times  ;  "  Onr  P'atherin  the  heavens"  or  "  heavenly  "  twenty-two  times  ;  "that 
it  might  be  fulfilled  ; "  the  pleonastic,  iropfvOeis  "going;"  the  frequent  koI 
iZov  ;  the  use  throughout  of  t<$t6,  iKflQev,  evd^ais,  iv  ttj  ^/ue'pot  iKiivri  as 
formulae  of  vague  transition,  &c.     See  Rcuss,  Hcilige  Schri/tcn,  ii.  p.  194". 

E   2 


62  The  Gospels. 


NOTE  III. 

THE   GOSPEL   ACCORDING   TO   THE   HEBREWS. 

It  is  now  generally  admitted  that  our  present  Gospel  of  St.  Matthew 
is  not  and  cannot  be  a  translation.^  Tlie  opinion  that  St.  Matthew  first 
wrote  in  Aramaic  may,  as  we  have  seen,  be  a  mistake  of  Papias  who 
had  heard  of  the  "  Gospel  according  to  the  Hebrews."  Even  Origen  had 
only  heard  by  tradition  of  the  Hebrew  original.  Jerome  seems  certainly 
to  have  fallen  into  some  confusion,  for  he  says,  that  he  had  seen  the 
Hebrew  original  of  St.  Matthew  in  the  library  of  the  martyr  Pamphilus 
at  Caesarea,  and  among  the  Nazarenes  in  the  Syrian  Beroea  {De  Virr. 
Illustr.  3).  In  the  previous  chapter  he  says  that  he  had  translated  into 
Greek  and  Latin  tliu  Gospel  according  to  the  Hebrews.  In  later  life  he 
seems  to  have  had  doubts  on  the  subject,  to  which  Origen  had  often 
referred.  Pantaenus  is  said  to  have  discovered  the  original  Hebrew 
Gospel  of  St.  Matthew  among  the  Indians,  who  had  received  it  from 
the  Apostle  Bartholomew  (Euseb.  H.  E.  v.  10,  §  3 ;  Jer.  De  Vivr. 
Illustr.  36).  The  truth  seems  to  be  that  the  Gospel  of  the  Kazarenes, 
the  Gospel  of  the  Ebionites,  the  Gospel  according  to  the  Twelve  Apostles, 
and  the  Gospel  according  to  the  Hebrews  were  all  more  or  less  heretical, 
or  at  the  best  were  unwarrantable  Antilegomena  based  upon  the  genuine 
Gospel.  The  Roman  Catholic  writer,  Sepp,  without  more  ado  calls  the 
Gospel  according  to  the  Hebrews  "a  Jewish-Christian  humbug." 

Of  the  Gospel  according  to  the  Hebrews  thirty-three  fragments  remain. 
They  have  been  collected  by  Credner,  Hilgenfeld,  and  Nicholson.  They 
are  also  collected  in  Canon  Westcott's  Introduction  to  the  Gospel  Qip. 
433-438),  with  the  fragments  of  the  Gospel  to  the  Ebionites. 

^  See  such  phrases  as  KaKovs  KaKws  ditoXiaei  avrois,  xxi.  41,  and  such 
paronomasias  as  ui^oira*  Kal  kSxI/ovtui  (xxiv.  30);  at^avt^fiv.  .  .  <palu«iQai,  vi.  IG, 
ahiav.  .  .  airia,  xix.  3,  10.  lu  the  Kp.  of  Barnabas  (iv.  v.)  early  as  it  is, 
there  seem  to  be  two  quotations  from  the  Greek  (xxii.  14  ;  is.  13). 


THE  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  ST.  MARK. 


"  Tliis  too  the  elder  used  to  say.  Mark  liaving  become  Peter's  interpreter, 
wrote  accurately  all  that  he  (Peter)  mentioned  [or  all  that  he  (Mai'k)  remem- 
bered i/xwi-i-ovivaev] ;  he  did  not,  however,  (record)  in  order  either  the  things 
said  or  done  by  Christ,  for  ho  neither  heard  the  Lord  nor  followed  Him,  but 
(as  I  said)  subsequently  (followed)  Peter,  who  used  to  frame  his  teaching  in 
accordance  with  the  needs  (of  his  hearers),  but  not  as  though  he  were  making 
a  methodic  naiTative  of  the  Lord's  discourses.  So  Mark  made  no  error  in 
writing  down  some  things  as  he  (Peter)  narrated  them.  For  he  took  heed  to 
one  thing,  to  omit  nothing  of  what  he  heard,  and  to  make  no  false  statement 
in  them."— Papias  (in  Euseb.  II.  K  in.  39,  §15). 


"  What  is  this  ?  A  new  teaching  !  With  authority  He  commandeth  even 
the  unclean  spirits,  and  they  obey  Him." — Mark  i.  27. 

1.  The  old  notion  of  the  Gospel  of  St.  Mark  which  satisfied 
many  of  the  Fathers  and  Schoolmen,  and  still  satisfies  most 
readers — is  the  mistaken  and  superficial  view  that  the 
Evangelist  was  nothing  but  a  follower  and  epitomist  of  St. 
Matthew.*  It  is  a  view  which  does  not  look  an  inch  deeper 
than  the  most  obvious  phenomena.^  No  doubt  the  Gospel  of 
St.  Mark  does  present  the  same  general  outline  as  the  pre- 
ceding Gospel.  We  have  seen  that  St.  IMattliew  had  five  great 
divisions.  St.  Mark  entirely  omits  the  Genealogy  and  the 
Infancy,  but  he  too  has  first  the  Prelude  : — then  the  long  sec- 
tion of  the  Ministry  with  its  Miracles  and  Parables ;  the 
rejection  by  the  world,  and  acceptance  by  the  Apostles ;  the 

^  So  Augustine,  Da  Consens.  Evang.  i.  4,  "  subsecutus  (Jlatthaeus)  tamquam 
pedissequus  et  breviator  ejus." 

^  A  very  large  school  of  modern  critics  (Ritschl,  Volkmar,  Ewald,  Kostlin, 
Reuss,  Weiss,  &c.)  has  maintained  the  priority  of  Mark  ;  but  the  Fathers 
(Irenaeus,  Hcmr.  iii.  10,  §  6  ;  Clemens  Ale.^c.  ap.  Euseb.  II.  E.  vi.  14  ;  Tert. 
Cont.  Marcinn.  iv.  2 ;  Jerome,  De  Virr.  TllvMr.  7,  8)  and  others  place 
Matthew  first,  and  their  view  is  now  beiiig  generally  adopted. 


54  The  Gospels. 

Oldening  glory  and  deepening  gloom ;  the  year  of  prosperity  in 
Galilee,  the  year  of  flight  among  the  heathen : — then  the 
closing  scenes :  then  the  Resurrection,^  This  resemblance  in 
arrangement  is  due  of  course  mainly  to  the  actual  order  of 
facts.  The  closeness  of  the  general  symmetry  does  not 
arise  from  any  abbreviation  of  St.  Matthew  by  St.  Mark,  but 
from  the  actual  order  of  events  and  the  use  made  by  both 
Evangelists  of  existing  oral  or  written  records  of  Apostolic 
preaching.  Nor  must  we  forget  that  the  Evangelists  were 
personally  known  to  each  other,  Mark  must  have  met 
Matthew  in  his  mother's  house,  which  was  the  common  ren- 
dezvous of  the  early  Christians  in  Jerusalem,  and  he  must 
have  been  with  Luke  in  Rome.  To  a  large  extent  therefore 
at  different  periods  of  their  careers  they  lived  in  the  same 
circle  of  ideas  and  beliefs,  and  must  have  frequently  conversed 
with  each  other.  Yet  each  is  quite  independent.  St.  Mark 
has  two  miracles  and  one  parable  recorded  by  himself  ex- 
clusively,^ and  in  every  incident  and  in  every  parable  he 
diverges  from  St.  Matthew  repeatedly,  both  in  phraseology 
and  in  details.  He  is  in  no  sense  a  copyist.  He  claims  the 
rank  of  an  independent  witness.  It  is  extremely  doubtful 
whether  he  had  so  much  as  seen  the  earlier  Gospel  of  the 
Publican  Apostle. 

2.  Of  St.  Mark  himself  all  that  is  known  is  the  tradition 
which  identifies  him  with  John  Mark,  the  son  of  that  Mary 
whose  house  in  Jerusalem  was  a  meeting  place  of  the  early 
Church,     Hence  the  home  of  the  Evangelist  was  perhaps  the 

^  None  of  the  Apostles  could  have  fiiiled  to  observe  that  the  scenes  at 
Caesarea  Philippi — the  confession  of  Christ's  divine  Messiahship  by  St.  Peter, 
and  the  first  "Passion-cry"  of  approaching  death — marked  a  special  epoch 
in  the  ministry  of  Christ. 

The  outline  of  St.  ilark  is  as  follows  : — 

1.  Introduction  (i.  1-13). 

2.  The  Galilean  ministry  (i.  14-i.\). 

3.  Incidents  of  the  Journey  to  Jerusalem  (.\). 

4.  Closing  scenes.  Death,  and  llesurrection  (xi.  1-xvi.  8). 

5.  Conclusion  (^canonical,  buj  prol)ably  added  later)  (xvi.  9-20). 

-  St.  Mark's  peculiar  sections  arc  iv.  26-29  (the  growth  of  the  seed)  :  vii. 
S2-37  (the  multitudes,  and  the  compassion  of  Jesus)  ;  viii.  22-26  (the  blind 
man  gradually  healed);  xi.  1-14  (details  about  the  ass,  &c.)  ;  xiii.  33-37 
(Watch  !) ;  xvi.  6-11  (details  of  the  appearance  of  Ihe  risen  Christ). 


L^fc  of  St.  3Iar7c.  55 

scene  both  of  the  Last  Su^Dper  and  of  the  descent  of  the 
Holy  Sjoirit  at  Pentecost.  He  was  a  cousin  of  Barnabas,  and 
therefore,  was  of  Levitic  descent,^  and  as  Barnabas  was  from 
Cyprus,  Mark  may  have  owed  his  Latin  name  to  this  circum- 
stance.^ He  was  the  companion  of  Paul  and  Barnabas  in 
their  first  journey.  Becoming  the  unwilling  cause  of  the  sharp 
dispute  between  them,  he  went  with  Barnabas  to  Cyprus. 
Afterwards  we  find  him  in  the  closest  and  dearest  intimacy 
vvitli  St.  Peter  in  Rome,  and  completely  forgiven  and  trusted 
by  St.  Paul  also  during  his  Roman  imprisonment.  The  great 
Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  mentions  him  in  one  Epistle  with  a 
kindly  message,  and  in  another  specially  wishes  for  his 
presence,  because  he  was  "  profitable  to  him  for  ministering."  ^ 
There  is  no  ground  for  the  fancy  that  St.  Mark  was  the  young 
man  in  the  linen  sheet  whom  he  mentions  in  the  unique  and 
characteristic  incident  of  the  arrest  at  Gethsemane.^  Tradi- 
tion says  that  he  went  to  Alexandria ;  founded  the  famous 
Catechetical  school  in  that  city,  and  there  died  a  martyr's 
death. 5 

3.  The  date  of  his  Gospel  was  certainly  before  the  fall  of 

^  Col.  iv.  10,  dve^pios,  not  "sister's  son,"  as  in  A.  V.  Epiphanius  {Racr. 
11.  6)  says  (without  probability)  that  St.  Mark  was  one  of  the  seventy  disciples 
of  Clirist,  and  fell  away  from  Him  (John  vi.  66)  but  was  brought  back  by 
St.  Peter. 

^  The  name  was  adopted  (after  the  Jewish  fashion)  for  use  among  Gentiles. 
It  was  one  of  the  commonest  Latin  names,  as  John  was  one  of  the  commonest 
Hebrew  names. 

^  1  Pet.  V.  13  ;  Philera.  24  ;  2  Tim.  iv.  11.  St.  Peter  uses  vlis,  not 
TfKvov,  but  evidently  the  term  is  one  of  affection. 

*  This  precarious  identification  has  been  rendered  all  the  more  popular 
because  it  falls  in  with  the  fancy  that  each  of  the  Evangelists  has,  as  Godet 
expresses  it,  left  in  a  corner  of  his  picture  a  modest  indication  of  his  own 
personality  ;  Matthew  in  the  Publican  whom  Jesus  calls  by  a  word  from  the 
receipt  of  toll  ;  Mark  in  the  young  man  in  the  linen  garment  ;  Luke  in  the 
companion  of  Cleopas  on  tlie  walk  to  Emmaus  ;  John  in  the  unnamed  disciple 
whom  Jesus  loved  (St.  Luc.  ii.  447).  If  the  last  supper  was  held  (as^  is  pro^- 
bflMs)  in  the  house  of  Mary  the  mother  of  Mark,  the  Evangelist  iSriy  hav'e 
oeen  "  the  man  bearing  a  pitcher  of  water."  To  bear  a  pitcher  of  water  was 
most  unusual  for  a  man,  and  this  man  could  only  have  been  the  master  of  the 
family  bringing  the  water  for  some  sacred  purpose.  Possibly  too  the  signal 
had  been  privately  agreed  on.  It  must  be  remembered  that  our  Lord  was  at 
that  time  under  the  ban,  and  that  there  was  a  price  upon  His  head. 

*  Euseb.  //.  E.  ii.  16  ;  Epiphan.  Hacr.  li.  6  ;  Jer.  De  Virr.  III.  8  ;  Chrys. 
ITom.  in  Matt.  ;  Nicephor.  ii.  43.  For  numerous  legends  and  their  treatment 
in  Art,  see  Mrs.  Jameson,  i.  147-154. 


66  The  Gospels. 

Jemsalem.  It  was  probably  published  within  a  few  years 
of  the  Gospels  of  St.  Matthew  and  St.  Luke,  Mutual  inter- 
course and  the  fact  that  Apostolic  teaching  was  already 
fixed  in  its  general  outline  and  expressions — can  (as  we  have 
seen)  alone  account  for  the  many  resemblances  combined 
with  the  many  dissimilarities  of  these  three  Gospels,  And 
yet,  as  a  distinct  whole,  St,  Mark's  Gospel  entirely  differs 
from  the  others.  Though  it  contains  but  a  handful  of  verses, 
which  have  no  parallel  in  St.  Matthew  and  St.  Luke,  it  was 
written  with  a  different  object,  it  is  stamjDed  with  a  different 
individuality. 

4.  For  instance,  it  is  obvious  that  St.  Mark  wrote  for 
a  code  of  different  readers.  St,  Matthew  wrote  for  Hebrews, 
St.  Luke  for  Greeks,  St.  Mark  wrote  for  Romans,^  probably  in 
Rome.  He  has  ten  Latin  words,  such  as  legio,  centurio, 
quadrans,  flagellare,  census,  scxtarius,  spcciUator,  ijradorium,'^ 
some  of  which  are  peculiar  to  himself  He  uses  several 
distinctly  Latin  idioms.^  He  has  fewer  references  to  the  Old 
Testament  than  the  other  Evangelists,  and  only  one  which 
is  peculiar  to  himself ;  *  in  other  words  his  quotations  are  always 
cyclic,  i.e.  they  belong  to  the  narrative,  not  to  the  recorder,^ 
He  always  adds  a  note  of  exjilanation  to  Jewish  words  and 

^  But  even  Romanists  have  given  up  the  view  of  Baronius  that  he  wrote  in 
Latin,  a  statement  which  is  fouml  in  some  MSS.  The  Roman  Christians  all 
spoke  Greek.     Even  Clement  of  ]?ome  wrote  in  Greek. 

2  Kpd^^aros  {grabafus),  wliich  he,  alone  of  the  Synoptists,  uses  five  times, 
occurs  also  in  John  v.  8-12,  Acts  v.  15  :  ix.  33.  At  the  end  of  the  Gospel 
the  Peshito  version  adds:  "End  of  the  Holy  Gospel  of  the  preaching  of 
Mark,  who  spoke  and  preached  in  Latin  at  Rome. 

*  rb  iKavov  TToii'iv,  xv.  15.  He  also  has  avu0ov\iov  SiSovai,  consilium  dare; 
^iTxarais  ex""*  '^^^  extremis  esse — a  phrase  which  Phrynichus  says  was  only  used 
by  the  vulf^ar.  wpa  vuW-^,  vi.  35.  No  less  than  eight  words  which  St.  Luke 
avoids  are  used  hy  St.  Jlark,  and  are  condemned  by  Plirynicluis  as  "slang" 
words  (/c/>a/3/3aTos,  iJ.oi'6<pda\uos,  tuo'x'Vo"'  {in  the  sense  of  rich"),  KoWvPLcrrat, 
Kopdfftov,  6pKl(a>,  ^aTTio-^a,  ^a<pls).  The  last  word  for  "needle"  is  used  by 
Hippocrates,  but  Phrynichus  reprehends  it  severely,  and  St.  Luke  used  fieKivt) 
instead  (Luke  xviii.  25,  B.  D.  L.).  His  Greek  is  sometimes  incorrect,  Srav 
with  indicative ;  ha  first  with  the  conjunctive  and  then  the  infinitive  (iii, 
14,  15), 

*  Mark  i.  2,  3,  The  reference  in  xv,  28  is  omitted  in  our  Revised  Version, 
as  perhaps  a  gloss  from  Luke  xxii.  37, 

'  Seventeen  of  these  quotations  (out  of  nineteen)  arc  from  the  LXX.,  and 
ior  the  most  part  agree  with  St.  Matthew  almost  verbally. 


Object  of  St.  Marh.  57 

Jewish  usages.^  The  word  "Law"  does  not  occur  in  his 
pages,  though  it  occurs  eight  times  in  St.  Matthew,  nine  times 
in  St.  Luke,  and  fifteen  times  in  John.^  Even  the  style 
seems  to  catch  something  of  the  energetic  brevity,  something 
of  the  haughty  compression  of  the  Romans  for  whose  instruc- 
tion his  Gospel  was  designed. 

5.  Then  again,  in  addressing  different  readers,  he  wrote  for 
a  different  purpose.  St.  Matthew  desired  to  link  the  Present 
to  the  Past;  to  point  to  the  fulfilment  of  Old  Testament 
prophecies ;  to  prove  that  Jesus  was  the  Messiah  of  the  Jew, 
the  Son  of  David,  the  Son  of  Abraham. 

St.  Luke  wrote  to  connect  Christianity  with  the  advancing 
future;  to  associate  the  work  of  Jesus  with  Humanity;  to 
set  Him  forth  as  the  Son  of  Adam ;  the  Saviour  of  the 
World. 

St.  John  wrote  to  connect  Christ  with  the  Eternal ; 
to  serve  the  deepest  needs  of  the  soul ;  to  satisfy  the  most 
yearning  aspirations  of  the  spirit. 

The  object  of  St.  Mark,  in  this  concise,  vigorous,  vivid 
Gospel  was  more  limited,  though  not  less  necessary.^  It  was 
to  manifest  Jesus  as  He  had  been  in  the  present,  in  daily 
actual  life;  Jesus  living  and  working  among  men,  in  the 
fulness  of  His  energy ;  Jesus  in  the  awe-inspiring  grandeur  of 
his  human  personality  as  a  Man  who  was  also  the  Incarnate, 
the  wonder-working  Son  of  God.^ 

He  narrates  eighteen  of  the  Miracles,  but  only  four  of 
St.  Matthew's  fifteen  Parables,  and   those   in  briefest  form. 

1  See  vii.  1-5,  11-18  :  vii.  3,  4  ;  xii.  18  ;  xiv.  12  ;  xv.  42,  &c. 

^  St.  Mark  uses  "the  commandment"  (ivroKij)  ei"ht  times  (vii.  8;  x. 
19,  &c.). 

^  The  brevity  of  St.  Mark's  Gospel  was  early  commented  on,  Jerome,  Cat. 
8.  In  Hippolytus  {Philos.  vii.  30)  we  find"  the  curious  epithet  MdpKos  6 
Ho\otioSoiKTv\os,  "  Mark,  the  stump-fingered."  In  later  days  it  originated  the 
legend  that  St.  Mark  had  maimed  one  of  his  fingers  to  disqualify  himself 
tor  the  priesthood  ;  but  it  probably  arose  from  the  abridged  narratives  of  his 
Gospel  (see  Keini,  Jesio  of  Nazara,  i.  117). 

*  The  first  words  of  St.  Mark,  "The  beginning  of  the  Go.spel  of  Jesus 
Christ,  the  Son  of  God,"  are  a  most  fitting  keynote  to  the  whole  book.  "The 
Son  of  God"  is  here  omitted  by  X,  but  the  s;ime  title  is  gwcw  to  Christ  in 
seven  other  passages  of  the  Gospel. 


68  The  Gospels. 

Unanimous  ancient  tradition  has  connected  St.  Mark's  Gospel 
with  the  eyewitness  of  St.  Peter.^  It  contains  many  special 
allusions  to  St.  Peter.  Whole  passages  look  as  if  they  only 
put  into  the  third  person  what  St.  Peter  had  narrated  to  the 
writer  in  the  first  jocrson.  This  Gospel  displays  the  same  con- 
ciliatory spirit  of  catholicity  as  that  Avhich  marked  the  great 
Apostle  of  the  Circumcision.  St.  Peter's  speech  in  Acts  x. 
to  the  Roman  centurion — in  which  he  describes  the  essence 
of  Apostolic  testimony  to  be  "  How  God  anointed  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  power,  who  went 
about  doing  good,  and  healing  all  that  were  oppressed  of  the 
devil ;  for  God  was  with  Him  " — has  been  called  by  Meyer 
with  happy  insight  "  a  programme  of  the  Gospel."  "  What  is 
this  ?  A  new  teaching  with  power  !  The  very  demons  obey 
Him."  Into  these  words  are  compressed  the  main  features  of 
the  work  of  Christ  as  here  revealed  to  us ;  its  startling  origin- 
ality, its  authoritative  tone,  the  astonishment  ius^Dired  by  its 
supernatural  and  beneficent  ascendency.  Such  was  the  Day 
of  Christ  as  it  appeared  to  St.  Peter  and  to  St.  Mark, 

6.  We  cannot  fail  to  observe  how  admirably  this 
Gospel  of  St.  ]\Iark  accords  with  the  aim  which  he  had  in 
view. 

i.  First  of  all  it  is  characterised  by  an  almost  impetuous 

activity.     In  St.  Matthew  the  element  of  discourse  is  most 

prominent ;    in   St.   Mark  that  of  action.     St.  Matthew's  is 

the  didactic,  St.  Mark's  the  energetic  Gospel.     Nothing  can 

be  more  characteristic  of  the  fact  than  the  words  "  immedi- 

^  Some  have  seen  an  allusion  to  this  in  2  Pet.  i.  16.  Papias  {ap.  Euseb. 
H.  E.  iii.  39)  calls  Mark  an  "interpreter"  {ipixr)vevTi]s)  oi  St.  Peter.  Justin 
Martyr  {Dial.  106)  quotes  Mark  iii.  17  under  the  title  of  "Memoirs 
{aTroiJii/r]ixovevtxaTa)  of  Peter."  Irenaeus  {irn.cr.  iii.  1),  Clemens.  Alex.  (ap. 
Euseb.  vi.  14),  Tertullian  ("  jrarcus  quod  edidit  evangelium  Petri  aflimatur," 
c.  Marcion.  iv.  5),  Origen,  Eusebius  (H.  E.  ii.  15)  all  give  evidence  to  the 
same  effect.  St.  Jerome  says,  "  Marcum,  cujus  evangelium  Petro  narrante 
ct  illo  .scriViente  compositum  est  "  (ad  Hcd.  i.  5  :  Epp.  cxx.  10).  Minute 
incidents  connected  with  St.  Peter  are  found  in  i.  29  ;  ix.  5  ;  xiv.  54,  72  ;  xvi. 
7.  The  remark  of  Eusebius  {Drm.  Evang.  iii.  5)  about  Peter's  silence  on 
matters  to  his  own  credit  is  founded  on  vii.  27-33  (compare  Matt.  xvi.  13-23). 
IMrs.  Jameson  {Legends  of  Sa^^rcd  and  Legendary  Art,  i.  149)  mentions  many 
early  and  beautiful  representations  of  the  Evangelist  writing  while  Peter 
dictates. 


Vividness.  59 

ately,"  "anon,"  "forthwith,"  "by  and  by,"  "straightway," 
"  as  soon  as,"  "  shortly,"  which  seven  words  in  our  version 
represent  the  one  Greek  word  evdica  "  immediately,"  a  word 
so  characteristic  of  the  original  that  it  occurs  no  less  than 
forty-one  times  in  these  few  pages,  though  only  eight  times 
in  the  much  longer  Gospel  of  St.  Luke.  St.  Mark  has  no 
long  discourses,  no  developed  parables.  He  does  not  wear 
the  flowing  robes  of  St,  Matthew  :  his  dress  is  "  for  speed 
succinct."  Swift  and  incisive,  his  narrative  proceeds  straight 
to  the  goal  like  a  Roman  soldier  on  his  march  to  battle.^  In 
reading  St.  Mark,  carried  away  by  his  breathless  narrative,  we 
feel  like  the  Apostles  who — as  he  alone  twice  tells  us — ■ 
among  the  press  of  people  coming  and  going,  "had  no  leisure 
so  much  as  to  eat."  Event  after  event  comes  upon  us  in  his 
pages  with  the  impetuous  sequence  of  the  waves  in  a  rising 
tide. 

ii.  Again  his  Gospel  is  marked  by  special  vividness.  It  is 
full  of  charm  and  colour.  It  is  brightened  by  touches 
inimitably  graphic :  the  Evangelist  is  a  word-painter.  We 
have  repeated  details  of  person,^  of  number,  of  time,  of 
place,  which  often  throw  on  the  narrative  a  flood  of  light. 
The  spies  are  "  scribes  from  Jerusalem  "  ;  the  questioners  are 
"  Peter  and  Andrew  and  James  and  John" ;  Simon  of  Gyrene 
is  "  the  father  of  Alexander  and  Rufus,"  whom  the  Roman 
Christians  know.  The  swine  "  are  in  number  about  two 
thousand  "  ;  the  cock  crows  "  twice."  The  time  is  "  a  great 
while  before  day " ;  or  "  the  third  hour "  ;  or  "  eventide." 
The  scene  is  "  over  against  the  treasury  " ;  or  "  on  the  sea- 
shore " ;  or  on  the  slopes  of  Olivet,  or  in  the  courtyard,  or  in 
the  porch.  The  interlocutors  speak  and  answer  in  the  first 
person.  The  very  looks  and  accents,  and  gestures  of  Jesus 
are  recalled  alike  in  His  publicity  and  in  His  solitude.'  They 
^  Observe  tlie  phrases  "And  He  went  OTit  from  thence"  (vi.  1),  "And  from 
thence  He  arose"  (vii.  24  ;  ix.  30;  x.  1,  2).  Hence  the  Gospel  has  been 
called  "inartistic,  disproportioned,  uncouth,  a  string  of  anecdotes,"  yet  "full 
of  naive  simplicity  and  single-mindedness." 
'^  Bartimaeus,  Boanerges. 
2  i.  28,  35,  37,  45  ;  ii.  1-4,  15  ;  iii.  10-12  ;  vi.  32,  33,  &c. 


i 


'A. 


58 


The  Gospels. 


Unanimous  ancient  tradition  has  connected  St.  Mark's  Gospel 
with  the  eyewitness  of  St.  Peter.^  It  contains  many  special 
allusions  to  St.  Peter.  Whole  passages  look  as  if  they  only 
put  into  the  third  person  Avhat  St.  Peter  had  narrated  to  the 
writer  in  the  first  person.  This  Gospel  displays  the  same  con- 
ciliatory spirit  of  catholicity  as  that  which  marked  the  great 
Apostle  of  the  Circumcision.  St.  Peter's  speech  in  Acts  x. 
to  the  Roman  centurion — in  which  he  describes  the  essence 
of  Apostolic  testimony  to  be  "  How  God  anointed  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  power,  who  went 
about  doing  good,  and  healing  all  that  were  oppressed  of  the 
devil ;  for  God  was  with  Him  " — has  been  called  by  Meyer 
with  happy  insight  "  a  programme  of  the  Gospel."  "  What  is 
this  ?  A  new  teaching  with  power  !  The  very  demons  obey 
Him."  Into  these  words  are  compressed  the  main  features  of 
the  work  of  Christ  as  here  revealed  to  us ;  its  startling  origin- 
ality, its  authoritative  tone,  the  astonishment  inspired  by  its 
supernatural  and  beneficent  ascendency.  Such  was  the  Day 
of  Christ  as  it  appeared  to  St.  Peter  and  to  St.  Mark. 

6.  We  cannot  fail  to  observe  how  admirably  this 
Gospel  of  St.  Mark  accords  with  the  aim  which  he  had  in 
view. 

i.  First  of  all  it  is  characterised  by  an  almost  impetuous 

activity.     In  St.  Matthew  the  element  of  discourse  is  most 

prominent ;    in   St.   Mark  that  of  action.     St.  Matthew's  is 

the  didactic,  St.  Mark's  the  energetic  Gospel.     Nothing  can 

be  more  characteristic  of  the  fact  than  the  words  "  immedi- 

1  Some  have  seen  an  allusion  to  this  in  2  Pet.  i.  16.  Papias  (ap.  Euseb. 
JT.  E.  iii.  39)  calls  Mark  an  "interpreter"  (ep^uTjj/euT^j)  of  St.  Peter.  Justin 
Martyr  {Dial.  106)  quotes  Mark  iii.  17  under  the  title  of  "  ilemoirs 
{a.TrofjLvi)fjLovevfiara)  of  Peter."  Irenaeus  [JTa/ir.  iii.  1),  Cletnons.  Alex.  (ap. 
Euseb.  vi.  14),  Tertullian  ("Marcus  quod  edidit  evaiigelium  Petri  athmatur," 
c.  Marcion.  iv.  5),  Origen,  Eusebius  (//.  E.  ii.  15)  all  give  evidence  to  the 
same  effect.  St.  Jerome  says,  "Marcum,  cujus  evaui^elium  Petro  narrante 
et  illo  scribente  conipositum  est  "  (ad  Ilcd.  i.  5  :  Epp.  cxx.  10).  Minute 
incidents  connected  with  St.  Peter  are  found  in  i.  29  ;  ix.  5  ;  xiv.  .54,  72  ;  xvi. 
7.  The  remark  of  Eusebius  {Dnn.  Emnrj.  iii.  5)  about  Peter's  silence  on 
matters  to  his  own  credit  is  founded  on  vii.  27-33  (compare  Matt.  xvi.  13-23). 
Mrs.  Jameson  (Legends  of  Sa^crrd  and  Legendary  Art,  i.  149)  mentions  many 
early  and  beautiful  representations  of  the  Evangelist  writing  while  Peter 
dictates. 


atelv,' 


Realistic.  61 

figuration,  you  will  see  at  once  that  it  is  from  the  narrative 
of  St.  Mark  that  it  derives  most  of  its  intensity,  its  move- 
ment, its  colouring,  its  contrast,  and  its  power.^  It  is  these 
gifts  of  the  Evangelist  which  make  one  writer  say  of  him 
that  "he  wears  a  richly  embroidered  garment";^  and  another 
— thinking  of  his  bright  independence  and  originality — that 
in  his  gospel  we  breathe  "  a  scent  as  of  fresh  flowers."  ^ 

iii.  Both  the  characteristics  on  which  we  have  dwelt  are 
important,  as  they  tell  irresistibly  against  all  theories  of  the 
mythic  origin  of  the  Gospels.  But  once  again — what  is  still 
more  important — St.  Mark's  Gospel  is  memorable  for  its 
special  presentation  of  the  life  of  Christ.  It  is  not  Messianic 
like  St.  Matthew's;  it  is  not  tenderly  and  universally 
Humanitarian  like  St.  Luke's ;  it  is  not  mystic  and  spiritual 
like  St.  John's :  but  it  is  essentially  realistic.  Apart  from 
all  theories  of  the  future,  apart  from  all  prophecies  in  the 
past,  apart  from  all  deep  subjective  impressions,  he 
represents  Jesus  as  He  lived  in  Galilee,  at  once  divine  and 
human.  If  St.  Matthew  wrote  specially  for  the  Jew,  St. 
Luke  for  the  Gentile  Christian,  and  St.  John  for  the 
theologian,  St.  Mark  writes  for  the  ordinary  practical  man. 
His  Roman  readers,  in  their  blunt  speech,  and  rough  good 
sense,  might  have  said  to  him,  "We  know  nothing  of  your  Old 

^  It  is,  perhaps,  to  the  desire  for  vividness  that  we  owe  St.  Mark's  constant 
double  expressions.  See  ii.  19  ;  iii.  5,  27,  &c.  Thus  in  iii.  22  he  has  tivo 
phrases  for  "He  has  Beelzebub,"  and  yet  another  in  iii.  30.  Papias  speaks  of 
his  desire  to  omit  nothing  that  he  had  heard.  Such  an  expression  as  o\\iias 
Sf  •y^von4vr)s  ore  edvffev  6  VjAios  (i.  32)  may  be  taken  as  a  type  of  these  "re- 
duplicated phrases,"  and  combines  the  words  separately  used  by  Matt.  viii. 
16  and  Luke  iv.  40. 

2  "  He  is  an  author  in  a  flower-bedecked  garment.  Ho  makes  the  narrative 
more  effective  by  the  contrast  between  rapid  progression  and  contemplative 
stillness,  painting  the  scenery  with  a  thousand  touches,  the  house,  the  sea, 
the  followers,  the  growing  thi'ong,  the  names  of  persons,  the  numbers  of  the 
men,  and  of  the  animals,  and  of  the  pieces  of  money,  the  greenness  of  the 
grass,  the  pillow  in  the  stern  of  the  boat  on  Gennesareth — all  given  with  a 
preference  for  affectionate  and  familiar  diminutives,  and  in  the  present  tense." 
— Keim.  The  same  picturesqueness  of  style  is  found  in  the  Epistles  of  St. 
Peter,  and  in  narratives  which  must  have  come  from  him.  Compare  the 
account  of  the  cripple  healed  by  St.  Peter— which  is  full  of  graphic  details— 
(Acts  iii.  1-11)  with  the  much  less  vivid  accouut  of  th,;  cripple  healed  by  St. 
Paul  (Acts  xiv.  8-10). 

^  Ewald.     Meyer  calls  him  malei'isch,  anscliaulkh. 


62  The  Gospels. 

Testament :  we  liave  no  pliilosophic  or  speculative  genius ; 
we  are  not  ripe  for  your  dogmas;  but  tell  us  what  Jesus 
was,  how  He  looked,  what  He  did.  Set  Him  before  us  as 
we  should  have  seen  Him  had  we  been  centurions  in  Syria, 
or  soldiers  beside  the  Cross.  Before  we  can  believe  in  the 
Son  of  God,  we  must  know  something  of  the  Son  of  Man 
He  must  be  dissevered  from  Jewish  peculiarities  or  religious 
formulae.  He  must  be  '  \miversal  as  our  race ;  he  must  be 
individual  as  ourselves.' " 

iv.  Now  St.  Mark  meets  these  very  needs.  He  shows  us  a 
Man  indeed ;  one  who  is  no  Docetic  phantom — one  who  needs 
rest,  and  sleep,  and  food ;  one  who  can  love,  and  sigh,  and 
pity,  and  be  moved  with  anger  and  indignation  ;  but  a  Man 
heroic  and  mysterious,  who  inspires  not  only  a  passionate  de- 
votion, but  also  amazement  and  adoration  ;  one  the  very  hem 
of  whose  garment  heals  the  sick;  one  on  whom  the  multitudes 
throng  and  press  in  their  eagerness  to  touch  Him  ;  one 
whom  the  unclean  spirits  no  sooner  see  than  they  fall  flat 
with  the  wild  cry,  "  Thou  art  the  Son  of  God."  Here,  for 
instance,  is  a  single  touch  of  description  from  Christ's  last 
approach  to  Jerusalem,  found  in  St.  Mark  alone — "  And  they 
were  on  the  way  going  up  to  Jerusalem ;  and  Jesus  went 
before,  and  they  were  amazed,  and  they  that  followed  were 
afraid."  What  a  unique  and  marvellous  picture  !  All  hope 
was  DOW  gone.  The  doom  was  near.  Alone,  with  bowed 
head,  in  deep  and  awful  silence,  like  the  leader  of  some  fatal 
enterprise,  Jesus  walked  in  front.  But  even  in  that  supreme 
hour  of  His  desolation  and  rejection,  when  He  was  excom- 
municate, when  a  price  was  on  His  head,  in  the  lowest  deeps 
of  the  valley  of  His  humiliation,  on  the  path  to  His  Cross  of 
shame,  He  inspires  not  the  patronage  of  compassion,  but  an 
awful  reverence,  a  hushed  and  terrified  amaze. ^     No  sorrow 

^  St.  JIark  uses  five  words  expressive  of  fear,  wonder,  trouble,  amazement, 
extreme  astonishment,  {i.  27  ;  v.  28,  fBafiPi^drjffav  irdvTfs  ;  ii.  12,  &are 
^^iffTaffOai  TraVras  ;  iv.  41,  icpofftjBriffai'  (^6^ov  /xfyav  ;  vi.  50,  (Tapax^riaav ; 
vi.  h\,  i^i(TTavTo  KOI  iBavfxa^ov  ;  vii.  37,  i/TrfpTrfpio-ffcDj  t|e7rAi'|(Tco»'To.)  "The 
wonder-working  Sou  of  Uod  sweeiis  over  His  kingdom  swiftly   and  meteor- 


Tlie  Lion  of  St.  Mark.  63 

was  like  His  sorrow ;  yet  the  pomp  of  empires  fades,  and  tlie 
pride  of  power  is  dwarfed  before  this  lonely  anguish  of  the 
Man  of  Sorrows.  Constantine  weaves  the  cross  on  his 
banners;  Eudolj)h  of  Hapsburg  seizes  on  a  crucifix  as  his 
sceptre.  It  seems  as  if  kings  could  only  bow  before  the  heir 
to  that  crown  of  thorns,  and  that  sceptre  of  bulrushes.  The 
Lord,  as  in  the  old  Septuagint  version  of  the  Psalm,  "  reigns 
from  the  tree."  ^  Nailed  to  the  Cross  amid  the  execrating 
multitude.  He  still  seems  to  us  to  be 

"  High  on  a  throne  of  royal  state,  which  far 
Outshone  the  wealth  of  Oimuz  or  of  Ind, 
Or  where  the  gorgeous  East  with  richest  hand 
Showers  on  her  kings  barbaric  pearl  and  gold." 

7.  And  now  we  shall  I  think  see  why,  out  of  the  fourfold 
cherubic  chariot,  the  Lion  was  chosen  as  the  symbol  of  St. 
Mark.  For  the  characteristics  of  a  lion  are  the  majesty  of 
its  pose,^  the  sternness  of  its  eye,  the  swiftness  and  power  of 
its  leap.  And  can  we  not  see  what  an  impression  as  of 
leonine  majesty  this  Gospel,  more  than  the  others,  must  have 
made  on  the  stern  and  practical  Romans  ?  So  long  as  they 
were  ignorant  of  Christianity  the  general  attitude  of  Eomans 
towards  it  was  that  of  the  haughtiest  disdain.  The  great 
Roman  writers  of  that  epoch  called  it  a  "  new,"  a  "  malefic," 
an  "  execrable  "  superstition,  Tacitus  vouchsafes  only  two 
lines  to  it,  to  say  that  its  Author  had  been  crucified  under 
Pontius  Pilate,  and  that,  with  everything  else  which  could 
cause  a  blush,  it  had  flowed  into  Rome  as  into  the  common 
sewer  of  Eastern  superstition.  Those  proud  and  imperial 
aristocrats,  obstinately  clinging  to  a  prejudice  which  disdained 
inquiry,  could  not  conceive  anything  more  abject  than  the 
worship  of   one   who   had   died  a  slave's  death  of  torture. 

like."— Archbishop  Thomson.  The  strong  word  eKeanBelaeai  is  peculiar  to  St, 
Mark  (ix.  15  ;  xiv.  33  ;  xvi,  5,  6). 

1  'Efia^jiXevaef  dirh  tov  ^v\ov.     Ps.   xcvi.    10.     LXX.     Just.   Mart.  Dial. 
p.  298.     August.  Enarrat.  in  Ps.  xcvi.     Tert.  c.  Marc.  iii.  19, 
"^  "Solo  guardando 
A  guisa  di  leon  quando  si  posa." 

Dante,  Purgatorio,  vi.  66. 


64  The  Gospels. 

Already  St.  Paul  had  said  "  I  am  not  asliame J  " — not  even  in 
Rome  ashamed — "  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ."  But  St.  Mark 
set  himself  to  remove  these  scornful  impressions,  to  counteract 
this  ignorant  contempt.  Instead  of  the  mere  "Galilean  rebel," 
the  mere  "  crucified  malefactor  "  of  Roman  scorn,^  he  drew  a 
picture  of  one  whose  simple  manhood  was  infinitely  more 
divine  than  that  of  their  deified  Caesars.  The  Romans — 
slaves  amid  their  boast  of  freedom — trembled  when  a  Nero 
showed  in  the  streets  the  pale  and  bloated  features  which 
were  the  infamous  wreck  of  his  early  beauty .^  They  spoke  in 
ten'ified  whispers  when  the  red  face  of  Domitiau — red  as 
though  it  were  flushed  with  blood — glared  over  the  amphi- 
theatre.^ But  it  was  not  the  men — degraded,  abject,  cowardly, 
corrupt — not  the  men  who  inspired  their  awe,  but  the 
despotism  built  on  their  own  degradation.  It  was  not  the 
wretch  Nero  nor  the  tp-ant  Domitian  whom  they  dreaded  ;  it 
was  the  imperial  purj^le,  the  glitter  of  the  lictor's  naked  axe, 
the  drawn  swords  of  Praetorian  guards,  the  background  of 
thirty  legions,  the  awful  entourage  of  spies  and  informers, 
whose  whispers  cut  men's  throats.  But  St.  Mark  shows  them 
a  ]\Ian  who,  though  he  lived  in  the  midst  of  poverty  and 
insult,  a  persecuted  Nazarene ;  though  aU  His  state  was  in 
Himself  only ;  though  His  face  was  marred  more  than  any 
man  ;  though  He  gave  His  back  to  the  smiters,  and  His  cheeks 
to  them  that  plucked  off  the  hair — was  more  transcendently 
and  intrinsically  awful  than  any  man  of  whom  they  had  ever 
dreamed.  More  even  than  the  power  of  His  miraculous 
beneficence,  the  majesty  of  His  innocence  and  holiness 
enthralled  the  heart.  And  so,  on  the  page  of  St.  Mark, 
"Jesus  of  Nazareth  passeth  by,"  with  the  stop  not  of  a  peasant 
but  of  an  Emperor,  not  of  a  malefactor  but  of  a  God.  There 
was  not  a  good  man — there  was  not  even  an  honest  slave — in 
Rome,  who  did  not  in  his  heart  loathe  and  despise  the  wicked 

*  Tac.  Ann.  xv.  44. 

'  Suet.  Ner.  ad  fin.     "  Corporo  macnloso  et  faedo." 

•  "Cum  deuotandis  tot  hominum  palloribus  suffieeret  saevus  \\\q  vuUus  d 
rubor."— Tixc.  Fit.  Agric.  4.')  ;  Suet.  Dom.  IS  ;  P'.iny,  Paneg.  33. 


Special  Details.  65 

human  gods  of  Caesarian  infamy.^  No  absolute  autocracy,  no 
oppressive  magnificence  could  for  a  moment  lift  out  of  their 
vileness  a  brutal  buffoon  like  Caligula,  or  a  base-hearted 
aesthete  like  Nero.  But  St.  Mark  showed  to  Romans  a  Man 
who  was  a  Man  indeed  ;  crowned  by  His  very  manhood  with 
glory  and  power ;  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  but  the  Son  of  God ;  a 
Man,  but  a  Man  Divine  and  sinless,  among  sinful  and 
suffering  men.  Him,  the  God-man,  no  humiliation  could 
degrade,  no  death  defeat.  Not  even  on  the  Cross  could  He 
seem  less  than  the  King,  the  Hero,  the  only  Son.  And  as  he 
gazed  on  such  a  picture  how  could  any  Roman  refrain  from 
exclaiming  with  the  awe-struck  Centurion,  "  Truly  this  was 
the  Son  of  God  !  " 

8.  Many  other  points  are  noticeable  in  this  Gospel — how, 
for  instance,  in  one  word,  "  Is  not  this  the  carpenter  ?  "  it  throws 
the  only  flash  which  falls  on  the  continuous  tenor  of  the  first 
thirty  years — from  infancy  to  manhood — of  the  Life  of 
Christ ;  ^  how  in  one  phrase  "  This  He  said  .  .  .  making  all 
meats  clean,"  St.  Mark  alone  of  the  Evangelists,  sets  forth 
with  absolute  clearness  Christ's  abrogation  and  abolition  of 
the  Levitic  law ;  how  in  two  sentences  he  alone  brings  out 
the  slow,  and  as  it  were  tentative  methods  of  Christ's  later 
miracles,  when  the  faith  in  Him  was  almost  dead ;  how  he 
alone  of  the  Evangelists  tells  us  of  no  less  than  eleven 
occasions  amid  his  work  on  which  Christ  retired,  either  to 
escape  from  His  enemies,  or  in  solitude — that  best  "audience- 
chamber  of  God" — to  refresh  with  prayer  His  wearied  soul.^ 
But  perhaps  one  last  comparison  may  help  to  ilhistrate 
the  specialties  of  this  Gospel.  I  compared  the  Gospel 
of   St.    Matthew  to    the    fugue  and  Passion-music    of   some 


^  See  Boissier,  La  Religion  Eomainc,  122-135. 

^  vi.  3.  As  the  reading  6  t4kto}v  is  certain,  and  is  moreover  in  accordance 
with  the  early  tradition  preserved  by  Justin  Martyr,  Origen  is  mistaken  in 
saying  that  Jesus  is  nowhere  called  "a  carpenter"  in  the  Gospels  (c.  Ccls, 
iii.  36). 

3  See  i.  12  ;  iii.  7  ;  ri.  31,  46  ;  vii.  24,  31  ;  ix.  2  ;  x.  1  ;  xiv  34.  "  Periods 
of  pause  and  rest  rhythmically  intervene  between  the  victories  achieved  by 
Christ." — Langr. 


G6  The  Gos2)els. 

iniglit-y  master.  I  should  apply  no  such  comparison  to  the 
Gospel  of  St.  j\Iark.  I  should  compare  it  far  rather  to  one  of 
those  pictures,  at  once  so  lovely  and  so  awe-inspiring,  of  one 
of  the  early  Italian  painters — an  Angelico  da  Fiesole,  or  a 
Giovanni  Bellini — where,  in  colouring  fresh  as  the  flowers  of 
spring,  or  deep,  clear,  and  transparent  as  crystal,  the  Magi 
from  the  East  present  their  offerings  to  the  Infant  King ;  or 
where  He  hangs  on  the  Cross  of  shame — and  though  we  see 
on  the  canvas  the  ornaments  on  every  robe,  the  gleam  on  every 
jewel,  the  colours  of  every  flower,  yet  the  admiration  for 
each  separate  detail,  and  almost  the  sense  that  they  are 
painted  there,  is  lost  in  the  wonder,  in  the  reverence,  in  the 
adoration,  in  the  love,  inspired  by  the  intense  beauty  and 
unutterable  majesty  of  Him  in  whom  all  the  motive  of  the 
picture  is  centred,  and  in  whom  all  its  glories  blend.  So  it  is 
with  St.  Mark's  Gospel.  Amid  the  thousand  details  we  see 
but  the  one  Redeemer.  Amid  the  hurrying  procession  our 
eyes  rest  but  on  a  single  figure.  Amid  the  multitudinous 
accents  our  attention  is  absorbed  by  a  single  voice.  And,  as 
we  close  the  last  page  of  the  Gospel,  the  words  which  spring 
involuntarily  to  our  lips  are  these — 

•'  Strong  Son  of  God,  Immortal  Love, 

Whom  we,  that  have  not  seen  Thy  face. 
By  faith,  and  faith  alone,  embrace, 
Believing  where  we  cannot  prove  ; 

'*  Thine  are  these  orhs  of  light  and  shade  ; 
Thou  madest  Life  in  man  and  hrute  ; 
Thou  maih'st  Death  ;  and  lo,  thy  foot 
Is  on  the  skull  which  thou  hast  made. 


Thou  seemest  human  and  divine, 
The  highest,  holiest  manhood  thou  ; 
Our  wills  are  ours,  we  know  not  how 

Our  wills  are  ours  to  make  theiu  Thine  I 


Genuineness  of  MarTi.  67 


NOTE  I. 

ON   THE    GENUINENESS    OF  MARK   XVI.    9-20. 

It  is  impossible  to  read  these  verses  attentively  in  the  original  without 
being  struck  by  very  remarkable  iDeculiarilies. 

1.  In  xvi.  2  we  are  told  that  the  women  went  to  the  tomb  venj  early 
in  the  morning  (Klav  iTpu>X)  and  found  that  Christ  was  already  risen. 
We  are  surprised,  therefore,  to  find  again  in  verse  9  the  phrase  "  having 
risen  eurhj." 

2.  "  On  the  first  day  of  the  week'"  (npaTr]  cra/3/3dTou)  is  expressed  by  a 
phrase  for  "  week "  which  St.  Mark  never  uses.  Even  in  verse  2  we 
have  TTJs  /xia?  (ra^^dra  v. 

3.  "He  appeared  ^j'si."  The  "first"  is  surprising,  since  in  the  pre- 
vious verses  we  have  already  been  told  of  an  earlier  appearance  to  the 
Avomen  of  whom  Mary  Magdalene  was  one. 

4.  "  Out  of  whom  He  had  cast  seven  devils."  This  is  still  more  unex- 
pected, since  the  addition  to  Mary's  name  has  not  once  been  given  when 
she  is  mentioned  before  in  this  Gospel  (three  times). 

5.  ^^  She."  Here,  and  in  11  and  13,  we  have  6KeIi/oj  used  absolutely 
in  a  way  unlike  St.  Mark's.  (There  is  no  similar  instance  in  his  Gospel 
except  in  iv.  20,  where,  perhaps,  the  true  reading  is  ovrot.) 

6.  "  Went."  This  verb,  iropevopai,  is  used  three  times  in  these  few 
verses  ;  not  once  elsewhere  throughout  the  Gospel. 

7.  As  we  proceed  we  find  a  number  of  words  and  phrases  unknown 
to  St.  Mark,  such  as  deaa-dai  vwo,  UTriaTelv,  erepos,  TrapaKoXovdeco,  jSAoTrro), 
niivra^^ov,  (naKoXovOfU),  avvepyeoi,  ^e^aioo),  naaa  Krlais,  ptru  Taiira, 
va-Tfpop,  fi(i>  ovu,  besides  seven  words  which  are  unique,  but  might 
conceivably  be  due  to  the  subject  ;  and  two  remarkable  variations  from 
St.  ]\Iark's  usual  construction  {iv  rw  dvupan  for  enl,  eirideivai  eVi  nva,  and 
eK/3aAXeti'  dno  for  eV/Si'AAeti'  e'/c). 

8.  We  have  the  title  "  the  Lord "  twice  ;  which  St.  Mark  never  uses 
elsewhere.^     In  verse  9  the  subject  (6  'irjaovs)  is  strangely  omitted. 

9.  The  use  of  the  connecting  particles  in  verses  19,  20  is  rare  in 
St.  ^hirk,  and  the  omissions  of  the  copula  in  verses  10  and  14  is 
unusual. 

10.  Besides  these  very  numerous  and  undeniable  peculiarities  thus 
accumulated  into  a  few  verses,  the  powers  promised  to  "  bdlcccrs"  in 
verses  17,  18  (handling  of  serpents,  drinking  poison,  speaking  with 
"  new  "  tongues)  are  unparalleled,  and  suggest  difficulties. 

1  St.  Mark  invariably  uses  the  address  "Rabbi,"  or  "Rabboni,"  even 
where  "  Lord  "  is  used  in  the  parallel  passages  of  the  Synoptists. 

F    2 


68  The  Gospels. 

ST.  MAUK.         11,  "He  that  believeth  and  is  baptised  &\iix\\  be  saved"  is  an  expres- 
sion unlike  any  other  saying  of  our  Lord. 

12.  Tlie  general  style  has  none  of  the  features  and  favourite  expres- 
sions which  we  recognise  throughout  the  rest  of  the  Gospel. 

13.  It  appeared  to  some  readers  in  very  ancient  days  to  contain  state- 
ments at  variance  with  those  of  the  other  Evangelists.^ 

Supposing  that  such  a  mass  of  surpii.sing  facts  had  met  us  in  the 
pages  of  any  secular  writer  tchatever  under  similar  circumstances,  it  is 
hard  to  believe  that  any  critic  would  have  been  able  to  accept  the 
genuineness  of  the  passages.  But  w' hen  we  turn  to  the  external  evi- 
dence the  suspicion  about  the  authenticity  of  the  verses  is  indefinitely 
strengthened. 

1.  It  is  wanting  in  two  of  the  best  and  most  ancient  Uncials — the 
Sinaitic,  and  the  Vatican  MSS. 

2.  In  other  MSS.,  and  in  MSS.  of  Sjo-iac  and  Latin  versions  we  are 
told  that  it  was  omitted  byjjnan^  anoioat  copies.     It  is  also  absent  from 

//_<_  some  old  MSS.  of  the  Armenian  version,  andJVom  one  Arabic  version. 

3.  Eusebius,  Jerome,  Gregory  of  Nyssa  (or  "Hesychius),  and  the 
Scholia  of  several  MSS.,  say  that  in  their  day  it  was  wanting  in  almost 
all  the  Greek  copies  of  tlie  Gospels.^ 

4.  It  seems  to  have  been  unknown  to  Cyril  of  Jerusalem  (?),  Tertul- 
lian,  and  Cyprian  ;  and  is  not  mentioned  by  Clement  of  Rome  or 
Clement  of  Alexandria. 

5.  A  different,  shorter,  and  unquestionably  spurious  ending  is  found 
^2              in  some  MSS.   and  versions  {e.g.  L.  and  Cod.  k.  of  the  Itala,  and  the 

jnargin  of  the  Philoxenian_Syriac).^ 

Even  if  the  internal  evidence  in  its  favour  had  been  strong,  the 
external  evidence  against  it  would  have  made  us  at  least  doubtful  as  to 
its  authenticity.  But  when  we  find  it  thus  deficient  in  external  evi- 
dence, while  at  the  same  time  the  internal  evidence  is  so  startlingly 
unfavoiirable,  we  can  hardly  wonder  that  it  is  rejected  or  questioned  by 
such  critics  as  Griesbach,  Lachmann,  Tischendorf,  Tregelles,  Schulthess^ 
Schulz,  Eitschl,  Auger,  Zeller,  Fritzsche,  Credner,  Reuss,  Wieseler, 
Holtzmann,  Keim,  Scholten,  Klostermann,  Hitzig,  Schenkel,  Ewald, 
Meyer,  Weiss,  Alford,  Norton,  Godet,  Lightfoot,  Westcott,  and  Hort. 

The  external  arguments  in  its  favour  are, 

a.  That  it  is  found  in  most  Uncials,  and  all  Cursives  (though  in  the 
latter  often  with  an  asterisk,  or  a  note  mentioning  its  omission  in  older 
copies) ;  in  most  versions,  and  in  all  Greek  and  Syriac  leetionaries,  &c. 

^  Ta  5e  l|f)s  (JIavk  xvi.  0-20)  cnraviois  tv  tktiv  a\\'  ovk  iv  -rrafft  (pfpifieva 
irepLTTo,  hv  etr),  ical  fxaXiffra  eiTrep  exoiei/  avTiAoylav  rrj  raiv  XoiirSiv  evayyeKiffTwi' 
fiaprvpia.  Euscb.  Qu.  1,  ad  Mariiima.  "Omnibus  Graccinc  librut  pacne  hoc 
capitulum  in  fine  non  habentibus,  jrracseriim  cum  dirersa  atqice  contraria 
evangel i.Hi.'J  cactcrU  narrare  videatur." — Jer.  ad  Hcdih.  Qu.  ii, 

^  Greg.  Nyss.  Orat.  dc  Resurrect,    See  the  previous  note. 


■?    )iy.4J . 


Marh  xvL  9—20.  69    CV-  ' 

It  is  quoted  by  Irenaeus,  possibly  by  Justin  Martyr,  and  by  many  of  J^f^j^lk^r'**^ 
the  Fathers.  ^ 

j3.  Internal  arguments  in  its  favour  there  are,  so  far  as  I  can  discover 
absolutely  none,  with  the  exception  that  if  this  passage  be  removed,  the 
Gospel  would  end  with  €(po^owTo  yap.  It  would,  indeed,  be  a  very 
strange  ending,  though  perhaps  it  might  be  paralleled.  Considering 
the  characteristic  of  St.  Mark's  style,  it  does  not  seem  to  be  an  im^-ios- 
sible  one  ;  nor  is  it  at  all  impossible  that  the  original  ending  should 
have  been  lost.  The  "  triple  tradition  "  of  the  Synoptists,  as  Dr.  Abbott 
has  pointed  out,  ended  with  the  return  of  the  women  from  the  sepul- 
chre, and  St.  Mark  may  have  scrupled  to  make  any  further  addition. 
In  these  matters  we  must  make  allowance  for  idiosyncrasy,  and  cannot 
judge  by  modern  ideas. 

Let  the  reader  compare  the  phenomena  presented  by  these  verses  with 
those  found  in  John  xxi.  That  too  is  regarded,  and  in  all  probability 
rightly  regarded,  as  an  appendix,  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  (with 
the  possible  exception  of  the  last  two  verses)  it  proceeded  from  the  pen 
of  the  Apostle  himself.  This  passage  of  St.  Mark  stands  on  a  wholly 
different  footing.  It  is  accepted  as  canonical — in  other  words  it  has|  ^ 
been  accepted  by  the  Church  as  having  a  right  to  be  regarded  as  a  part  I 
of  Scripture  ;  but  the  number  of  competent  critics  who  still  believe  it 
to  be  genuine  is  diminishing. 

The  passage  is,  however,  defended,  as  genuine  by  Mill,  Bengel, 
Schleiermacher,  De  Wette,  Bleek,  Olshausen,  Lange,  Ebrard,  Hilgenfeld, 
Scrivener,  "Wordsworth,  McLellan,  Cook,  Morrison,  and  Burgon.  All 
who  desire  further  evidence  may  seek  it  in  the  second  A^olume  of  West- 
cott  and  Hort's  Revised  Greek  Text,  pp.  38,  sqq.  ;  and  will  find  every- 
thing which  can  be  said  in  its  favour  in  Dean  Burgon's  monograph  on 
the  subject  (Oxford  and  London,  334  pp.).  Having  read  both  sides  on 
the  controversy  they  will  be  able  to  estimate  the  value  of  Dean  Burgon's 
remark  that,  "not  a  particle  of  doubt,  not  an  atom  of  suspicion,  attaches 
to  the  last  twelve  verses  of  the  Gospel  according  to  St.  Mark." 


THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  LUKE. 


"  Utilis  ille  labor,  per  qtiem  vixere  tot  aegri ; 
Utilior,  per  quern  tot  didicei'e  mori." 

"  He  was  a  physician  :    and   so,  to   all,  liis   words  are  medicines   of  the 
drooping  soul."— S.  Jer.  Ep.  ad  Paulin. 

"  Vidi  due  vecchi  in  aljito  dispari 

Ma  pari  in  atto,  ognnno  onesto  e  sodo, 
L'un  si  monstrava  alcun  de  famigliari 
Di  quel  soinino  Ipocrate,  che  natura 
Agli  animali  fe'  ch'  ella  ha  pid  cai'i." 

Dante,  Purg.  xxix. 

"  Whose  joy  is,  to  the  wandering  sheep 

To  tell  of  the  great  Shepherd's  love  ; 

To  learn  of  mourners  while  they  weep 

The  music  that  makes  mirth  above  ; 

Who  makes  the  Gospel  all  his  theme, 

The  Gospel  all  his  pride  and  praise." 

Keble,  St.  Luke's  Day. 

"Thou  hast  an  ear  for  angel  songs, 
A  breath  the  Gospel  trump  to  fill. 
And  taught  by  thee  the  Church  jtrolongs 
Her  liymns  of  high  thanksgiving  still." — Keclk. 


"  A  Saviour,  which  is  Christ  the  Lord."— Lvke  ii.  11. 

I  CHOOSE  these  words  as  being  perhaps  the  most  charac- 
teristic which  I  could  find  to  describe  the  idea  which  pervades 
the  Gospel  of  St.  Luke. 

About  the  Evangelist  himself  we  know  but  little.  Apart 
from  guesses  and  traditions,  our  information  respecting  him 
is  exceedingly  scanty. 

He  does  not  mention  himself  by  name  in  the  Gospel  or  in 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,   though    the   unanimous  voice  of 


St.  Luhe.  71 

ancient  traJition,  coinciding  as  it  does  with  many  probabilities 
derived  from  other  sources,  can  leave  no  doubt  that  he  was 
the  author  of  those  books. 

There  are  but  three  places  in  Scripture  in  which  his  name 
is  mentioned.  These  are  Col.  iv.  14,  "Luke,  the  beloved 
physician,  and  Demas,  greet  you;"  2  Tim.  iv.  11,  "Only 
Luke  is  with  me;"  and  Pliilem.  24,  where  he  is  mentioned 
as  one  of  Paul's  "  fellow-labourers."  From  these  we  see  that 
St.  Luke  was  the  faithful  companion  of  St.  Paul,  both  in  his 
first  Roman  imprisonment,  when  he  still  had  friends  about 
him,  and  in  his  second  Roman  imprisonment,  when  friend 
after  friend  deserted  him,  and  was  "  ashamed  of  his  chain." 
From  the  context  of  the  first  allusion  w^e  also  learn  that  he 
was  "  not  of  the  circumcision."  Tradition  has  always 
declared  that  he  was  a  Gentile,  and  a  "  proselyte  of  the 
gate."  ^ 

The  attempt  to  identify  him  with  "  Lucius  of  Cyrene  "  in 
Acts  xiii.  1  is  an  error,  since  his  name  Lucas  is  an  abbrevi- 
ation not  of  Lucius  but  of  Lucanus,  as  Annas  for  Ananus, 
Zenas  for  Zenodorus,  Apollos  for  Apollonius,  &c.  The  guess 
that  he  was  one  of  the  Seventy  disciples  is  refuted  by  his 
own  words,  nor  is  there  any  probability  that  he  was  one  of 
the  Greeks  who  desired  to  see  Jesus  (John  xii.  20)  or  one  of 
the  two  disciples  at  Emmaus  (Luke  xxiv.  13).^  Eusebius 
and  Jerome  say  that  he  was  a  Syrian  of  Antioch,  and  this 
agrees  with  the  intimate  knowledge  which  he  shows  about  the 
condition  and  the  teachers  of  that  Church.^  If^in  Acts  xi.  28 
we  could  accept  the  isolated  reading  of  the  Codex  Bczm  (a 
reading   known   also   to   St.  Augustine),  which   there  adds 

1  Acts  i.  19. 

-  He  implies  (Luke  i.  1)  that  he  was  not  an  eye-witness. 

^  He  speaks  of  "Nicolas  of  Antioch"  in  Acts  vi.  5,  without  mentioning 
the  native  place  of  any  other  of  the  six  deacons.  IMr.  Smith  of  Jordanhili, 
in  his  dissertation  on  St.  Luke,  points  out  the  interesting  parallel  that  of  eight 
accounts  of  the  Russian  campaign,  only  the  two  Scotch  authors  (Scott  and 
Alison)  mention  that  General  Barclay  de  Tolly  was  of  Scotch  extraction. 
Schaff.  His^t.  of  Christian  Church,  p.  651.  Some  of  St.  Luke's  special  infor- 
mation about  the  Herods  may  have  been  derived  from  Manaen,  the  foster 
brother  of  Antipas  of  Antioch,  Acts  xiii.  1. 


72  The  Gosjyds. 

avv€(TTpa/j,/xiv(ov  Be  i]fxoiv,  "  but  while  we  were  assembled 
together,"  it  would  prove  that  St.  Luke  had  been  acquainted 
with  the  Apostle  shortly  after  his  arrival  from  Tarsus  to 
assist  the  work  of  Barnabas.  In  that  case  he  may  well  have 
been  one  of  the  earliest  Gentile  converts  ^  whom  St.  Paul  ad- 
mitted into  full  rights  of  Christian  brotherhood,  and  with 
whom  St.  Peter  was  afterwards,  for  one  weak  moment, 
ashamed  to  eat.  We  cannot,  however,  trace  his  connection 
with  St.  Paul  with  any  certainty  till  the  sudden  appearance 
of  the  first  personal  pronoun  (in  the  plural)  in  Acts  xvi.  10, 
from  which  we  infer  that  he  joined  the  Apostle  at  Troas,  and 
accompanied  him  to  Macedonia,  becoming  thereby  one  of  the 
earliest  Evangelists  in  Europe.  It  is  no  unreasonable  con- 
jecture that  his  companionship  was  the  more  necessary 
because  St.  Paul  had  been  recently  suffering  from  an  acute 
visitation  of  the  malady  which  he  calls  "  the  stake,  or  cross, 
in  the  flesh."  Since  the  "  we  "  is  replaced  by  "  they  "  after 
the  departure  of  Paul  and  Silas  from  Philippi  (Acts  xvii.  1), 
we  infer  that  St.  Luke  was  left  at  that  town  in  charge  of  the 
infant  Macedonian  Church.  A  physician  could  find  means 
of  livelihood  anywhere,  and  Luke  seems  to  have  stayed  at 
Philippi  for  about  seven  years,  for  we  find  him  in  that  Roman 
colony  when  the  Apostle  spent  an  Easter  there  on  his  last 
-visit  to  Jerusalem  (Acts  xx,  5).  There  is,  however,  every 
reason  to  believe  that  during  this  period  he  was  not  idle,  for 
if  he  were  "  the  brother,  whose  praise  is  in  the  Gospel " 
(i.e.  in  preaching  the  good  tidings)  "  throughout  all  the 
churches"  (2  Cor.  viii.  18),  we  find  him  acting  with  Titus  as 
one  of  the  delegates  for  the  collection  and  custody  of  the 
contributions  for  the  i^oor  saints  at  Jerusalem.  The  identifi- 
cation of  St.  Luke  Avith  this  "  brother  "  no  doubt  originated 
in  a  mistaken  notion  that  "  the  Gospel "  here  means  the 
written  Gospel ;  ^  but  it  is  probableon  other  grounds,  and  is 
sujiported  by  the  tradition  embodied  in  the  superscription, 

^  In  Col.  iv.  11,  14,  lie  is  distinguished  from  "  those  of  the  circumcisiou." 
3  Jcr.  De  Virr.  ill.  7. 


Life  of  St.  Lille.  73 

which  tells  us  that  the  Secoud  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  was 
conveyed  from  Philippi  by  Titus  and  Luke. 

From  Philippi  St.  Luke  accompanied  his  friend  and  teacher 
to  Jerusalem  (Acts  xxi.  15 — 18),  and  there  we  again  lose  all 
record  of  his  movements.  Since,  however,  he  was  with  St. 
Paul  at  Caesarea  when  the  Apostle  was  sent  as  a  prisoner 
to  Rome,  it  is  probable  that  he  was  the  constant  companion 
of  his  imprisonment  in  that  town.  If  the  great  design  of 
writing  the  Gospel  was  already  in  his  mind,  the  long  and 
otherwise  unoccupied  stay  of  two  years  in  Caesarea  would 
not  only  give  him  ample  leisure,  but  would  also  furnish  him 
with  easy  access  to  those  sources  of  information  which  he 
tells  us  he  so  diligently  used.  It  would  further  enable  him 
to  glean  some  particulars  of  the  ministry  of  Jesus  from  sur- 
vivors amid  the  actual  scenes  where  He  had  lived.^  From 
Caesarea  he  accompanied  St.  Paul  in  the  disastrous  voyage 
which  ended  in  shipwreck  at  Malta,  and  proceeding  with  him 
to  Rome  he  remained  by  his  side  until  his  liberation,  and 
probably  never  left  him  until  the  great  Apostle  received  his 
martyr's  crown.  To  him — to  his  allegiance,  his  ability,  and 
his  accurate  preservation  of  facts — we  are  indebted  for  the 
greater  part  of  what  we  know  about  the  life  of  the  Apostle 
of  the  Gentiles. 

We  finally  lose  sight  of  St.  Luke  at  the  abrupt  close  of  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles.  Although  we  learn  from  the  Pastoral 
Epistles  2  that  he  must  have  lived  with  St.  Paul  for  two  years 
beyond  the  point  which  his  narrative  has  there  reached,  he 
may  not  have  arranged  his  book  until  after  Paul  was  dead. 


^  But  although  he  may  have  been  gathering  materials  for  his  Gospel  at 
Caesarea  (a.d.  bi)  there  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  it  was  not  published  till 
a  later  date.  The  general  tone  of  the  Gospel — e.g.  the  use  of  avT6s  and  6 
Kvpios  when  speaking  of  Christ — indicates  a  later  time  in  the  rapid  develop- 
ment of  early  Christianity  than  we  should  infer  from  the  tone  of  the  other 
iSynoptists.  Kvpios  as  a  substitute  for  Jesus  occurs  fourteen  times  in  St.  Luke  ; 
but  elsewhere  in  the  Synoptists  only  in  Mark  xvi.  19,  20.  The  combination 
"the  Lord  Jesus,"  occurs  (if  genuine)  only  in  Luke  xxiv.  3,  though  common 
in  the  Epistles.  This  would  liowever  be  partly  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that 
St.  Luke  as  a  Gentile  proselyte,  belonged  in  point  of  feeling  even  more  than  in 
point  of  time  to  a  later  generation  of  Christians  tlian  the  original  Apostles. 

2  2  Tim.  iv.  11. 


74  The  Gospels. 

and  the  course  of  the  narrative  may  have  been  suddenly  cut 
short  either  by  accident  or  even  by  his  own  death.  Ircnaeus 
(adv.  Haer.  ill.  1)  expressly  tells  us  that  his  Gospel  was 
written  after  the  death  of  Peter  and  Paul.  The  most  trust- 
Avorthy  tradition  says  that  he  died  in  Greece;  and  it  was 
believed  that  Constantine  transferred  his  remains  to  the 
Church  of  the  Apostles  in  Constantinople  from  Patrae  in 
Acliaia.'  Gregory  of  Nazianzus  tells  us  in  a  vague  way  that 
he  was  martyred,  but  it  is  idle  to  repeat  such  worthless 
legends  as  that  he  was  crucified  on  an  olive-tree  at  Elaea  in 
the  Peloponnesus,  &c.,  which  rest  on  the  sole  authority  of 
Nicephorus,  a  writer  who  died  after  the  middle  of  the  loth 
century.  The  fancy  that  he  was  a  painter,"  often  as  it  has 
been  embodied  in  art,  owes  its  origin  to  the  same  source,  and 
seems  only  to  have  arisen  from  the  discovery  of  a  rude  paint- 
ing of  the  Virgin  in  the  Catacombs  with  an  inscription  stating 
that  it  was  "  one  of  seven  painted  by  Luca."  It  is  not  im- 
possible that  there  may  have  been  some  confusion  between 
the  name  of  the  Evangelist  and  that  of  a  Greek  painter  in 
one  of  the  monasteries  of  Mount  Athos. 

But  leaving  "  the  shiftless  quagmire  of  baseless  traditions  " 
we  see  from  St.  Luke's  own  writings,  and  from  authentic 
notices  of  him,  that  he  was  master  of  a  good  Greek  style ; — 
an  accomi^lished  writer,  a  close  observer,  an  unassuming  his- 
torian, a  w^ell-instructed  physician,  and  a  most  faithful  friend.^ 
If  the  Theophilus  to  whom  he  dedicates  both  his 
works  was  the  Theophilus   mentioned   in  the  Clementines 

1  On  tlie  ancient  doors  of  San  Taolo  at  Rome,  he  is  represented  dying 
peacefully. 

2  Give  honour  unto  Lnlce  Evangelist, 
For  he  it  was,  the  ancient  legends  sang, 
Who  first  taught  Art  to  fold  her  hands  and  pray. 

— Ivdssr.TTr. 
3  In  viii.  43,  he  omits  the  severe  reflection  of  St.  Mark  on  physicians  "and 
was  nothing  bettered  but  rather  grew  worse."  Dr.  Tlumptre,  in  the  Expositor 
(No.  XX.  1876),  has  collected  many  traces  of  St.  Luke's  medical  knowledge 
(cf.  Acts  iii.  7,  ix.  18,  x.  9,  10,  xii.  23,  xx.  31,  xxvi.  7,  xxviii.  8  ;  Lukeiv. 
23,  xxii.  44,  &;c.),  and  even  of  its  possible  influence  on  the  l.angnase  of  St. 
Taul.  The  theme  has  been  greatly  (and  perhaps  unduly^  expanded  by  Rev. 
"\V.  IT.  Tlobnvt,  On  the  Medical  I.nvguagr  of  ^t.  Lvlr,  Dublin,  1882. 


Liihe  a  Physician.  75 

as  a  wealthy  Antiochene,  who  gave  up  his  house  to  the 
preaching  of  St.  Peter,  then  St.  Luke  may  have  been  his 
freedman.^  Physicians  frequently  held  no  higher  rank  than 
that  of  slaves,  and  Lobeck,  one  of  the  most  erudite  of  modern 
Greek  scholars,  has  noticed  that  contractions  in  as,  like  Lucas 
from  Lucanus,  were  peculiarly  common  in  the  names  of 
slaves.^  One  more  conjecture  may  be  mentioned.  St.  Luke's 
allusions  to  nautical  matters,  especially  in  Acts  xxvii.,  are  at 
once  remarkably  accurate  and  yet  unprofessional  in  tone.-^ 
Now  the  ships  of  the  ancients  were  huge  constructions,  hold- 
ing sometimes  upwards  of  800  people,  and  in  the  uncertain 
length  of  the  voyages  of  those  days,  we  may  assume  that  the 
presence  of  a  physician  amid  such  multitudes  was  a  matter 
of  necessity.  Mr.  Smith  of  Jordanhill,  in  his  admirable 
monograph  on  the  voyage  of  St.  Paul,  has  hence  been  led  to 
the  inference  that  St.  Luke  must  have  sometimes  exercised 
his  art  in  the  crowded  merchantmen  which  were  incessantly 
coasting  from  point  to  point  of  the  Mediterranean.  How- 
ever this  may  be,  the  naval  experience  of  St.  Luke  as  well 
as  his  medical  knowledge  would  have  rendered  him  a  most 
valuable  comjianion  to  the  suffering  Apostle  in  his  constant 
voyages. 

Turning  to  the  Gospel  itself,  we  m;iy  first  notice  that  it 
sets  before  us  that  conception  of  the  life  and  work  of  Christ 
which  was  the  basis  of  the  teaching  of  St.  Paul.  The  views 
of  the  great  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  are  no  less  represented  in 
the  Gospel  of  St.  Luke  than  are  those  of  the  great  Apostle 
of  the  Circumcision  in   the   Gospel   of   St.  Mark.*      By  the 

^  He  calls  liim  KpaTiore  in  Luke  i.  4.  It  is  a  title  either  of  rank  (given  to 
Pi-ocurators,  &,c..  Acts  xrui.  20  ;  xxvi.  25)  or  of  friendship.  It  is  omitted  in 
Acts  i.  1. 

^  Renan  {Lcs  Evangiles,  255)  and  Dean  Plumptre  speculate  on  a  possible 
connection  of  some  kind  between  Luke  and  the  poet  Lucan,  nepliew  of  Gallic 
(Acts,  xviii.  14-17)  and  of  Seneca.  This  possibility  was  inferred  from  the 
apocryphal  correspondence  between  St.  Paul  and  Seneca,  and  other  very  slight 
indications  (see  Bishop  Ellicott's  Commentary,  i.  257,  288). 

*  He  uses  in  this  chapter  seven  compounds  of  irAe'to,  and  at  least  ten  other 
correct  nautical  terms. 

*  Irenaeus,  adv.  Hacr.  iii.  1  and  iii.  14.  Tertnllian,  adv.  Mare.  iv.  2,  5. 
Ori^'en  apud  Euseb.  H.  E.  vi.  25,  and  id.  iii.  4.     .lerome,  Dc  Virr.  illustr.  7. 


76  The  Gospels. 

LUKE,  providence  of  God  we  find  such  holy  and  beautiful  friendships 
in  formative  epochs  of  the  Church,  as  at  the  Reformation 
between  Luther  and  Melanchthon,  Calvin  and  Beza,  Cran- 
mer,  Latimer,  and  Ridley.^  How  much  should  Ave  have  lost 
but  for  the  friendship  between  St,  Paul  and  the  loved 
physician,  between  St.   Peter  and  "  Marcus  my  son "  ! 

St.  Luke's  is  the  longest  of  the  Gospels.  A  third  of  the 
facts  it  contains  is  wanting  in  the  other  Synoptists.  It  is 
enriched  by  so  many  beautiful  characteristics,  produced  by 
the  modifying  influence  and  "varying  emphasis  of  subjec- 
tive ideas,"  that  it  deserves  the  remarkable  eulogy  which  has 
been  given  to  it  of  being  "  le  plus  heau  livre  qu'il  y  ait."  It 
is  the  most  literary  of  the  Gospels.  It  is  dominated  through- 
out by  a  spirit  large  and  sweet  and  wise,  and  "joins  the  emo- 
tion of  the  drama  to  the  serenity  of  the  idyll.  It  is  full  of 
tears  and  songs  and  laughter ;  it  is  the  hymn  of  the  new 
people,  the  hosanna  of  the  little  ones  and  of  the  humble 
introduced  into  the  kingdom.  A  spirit  of  holy  infancy,  of 
joy,  of  fervour,  the  evangelistic  sentiment  in  its  first 
originality  pervades  it  with  an  incomparable  sweetness." 
It  has  been  the  common  belief  that  it  was  written  for  the 

A  long  list  of  words  and  phrases  which  are  common  to  St.  Luke  and  St.  Paul 
may  be  seen  in  Davidson's  Introd.  to  the  New  Test.  ii.  12-19,  The  student 
may  compare  the  following : 


St.  Luke— 

St.  Paul— 

iv.  22. 

Col.  iv.  6. 

iv.  32. 

1  Cor.  ii.  4. 

vi.  3tj. 

2  Cor.  i.  3. 

vi.  39. 

Rom.  ii.  19. 

ix.  56. 

2  Cor.  X.  8. 

X.  8. 

1  Cor.  X.  27. 

xi.  41. 

Tit.  i.  15. 

xviii.  1. 

2  Thess.  i.  11, 

xxi.  36. 

Eph.  vi.  18. 

xxii.  19,  20. 

1  Cor.  xi.  23-29. 

xxiv.  45. 

Acts  xviL  3. 

xxiv.  34. 

1  Cor.  XV.  5. 

Sections  of  St.  Luke  which  are  in  peculiar  accordance  with  the  Gospel  of  St. 
Paul  (Rom.  ii.  16)  are  iv.  16-30  ;  vii.  36-50  ;  xv.  1-32  ;  xix.  1-10 ;  xxiii.  39- 
43  ;  and  especially  the  institution  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  See  too  1  Cor.  xv. 
45,  and  the  constant  mention  of  tlie  Resurrection  with  the  Passion. 

1  Schaff.  Hint,  of  the  Christ.  Church,  p.  649. 


Hymns.  77 

Greeks,  and  Jerome  says  that  it  was  written  in  Acliaia.i 
One  single  sentence,  to  dwell  on  no  other  argument,  would 
be  sufficient  to  show  the  early  date  of  the  Gospel.  It  is  the 
l^rophecy — "This  generation  shall  not  pass  away  till  all 
things  shall  be  fulfilled  "  (xxi.  32), 

Among  the  characteristics  of  this  Gospel  we  may  observe 
the  following : — 

I.  St.  Luke  is  the  first  Christian  hymnologist.  One  of 
the  sacred  hymns  which  he  alone  has  preserved — the 
Benedictits,  or  Song  of  Zacharias,  "  Blessed  be  the  Lord  God 
of  Israel" — we  constantly  sing  in  our  Morning  Service  ;  two 
more,  which  he  alone  has  preserved  for  us — the  Magnificat, 
or  song  of  Mary,  "  My  soul  doth  magnify  the  Lord  ; "  and  the 
Nunc  Dimittis,  or  song  of  Simeon,  "  Lord,  now  lettest  Thou 
Thy  servant  depart  in  peace  " — are  always  used  in  our  Even- 
ing Service.  To  these  we  may  add  the  Ave  Maria  (i. 
28-38)  and  the  Gloria  in  excelsis  (ii.  14).^  How  rich  a  con- 
tribution to  our  Christian  Psalmody  is  this  !  How  great 
was  the  privilege  of  the  Evangelist  in  having  been  thus 
permitted  to  hand  down  to  us  the  words  sung  daily  by 
myriads  of  Christian  lips !  St.  Matthew  represents  the 
Gospel  as  the  accomplishment  of  the  Old  Dispensa- 
tion ;  but,  on  the  very  threshold  of  St.  Luke's  Gospel, 
the  songs  of  Mary  and  of  Zechariah  set  forth  more 
decisively  the  character  of  the  New,  as  a  kingdom  of  the 
Spirit ;  as  a  spring  of  life  and  joy  opened  for  human  beings ; 
as  a  mystery,  prophesied  of,  indeed,  because  it  is  eternal,  but 
now,  in  the  appointed  time,  revealed  to  men.     The  Gospel 


^  "In  Achaiae  Boeotiaeque  partibiis  volumen  condidit."  Praef  in  Matt. 
"  Evangelium  Graecia  scripsit."  Ep.  xx.  4,  ad  Damas.  The  Greek  of  the 
Gospel  is  pure  when  St.  Lnke  is  wi'iting  in  his  own  person  ;  it  is  only  Hebraistic 
when  he  is  closely  following  Aramaic  documents.  The  resemblance  of  his 
vocabulary  (not  his  style)  to  that  of  the  writer  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews, 
is  natural  when  we  remember  that  they  were  friends  of  St.  Paul,  and  of  one 
another. 

^  The  Be7iedidics  seems  to  have  been  thus  used  as  early  as  the  fourth  century, 
the  Kiaic  Dimittis  in  the  fifth.  The  Magnificat  is  found  as  a  part  of  the  Evening 
Service  as  early  as  a.d.  507  in  the  rule  of  Caesarius  of  Aries.  The  Gloria 
seems  to  have  been  used  in  the  second  century. 


78  The  Gospels. 

of  tlio  Saviour  begins  with  hymns  and  ends  with  praises  ; 
and,  as  the  thanksgivings  of  the  meek  are  recorded  in  the 
first  chapter,  so,  in  the  last,  we  listen  to  the  gratitude  of  the 
faithful.! 

II.  St.  Luke's  Gospel  gives  special  prominence  to  prayer, 
not  only  by  recording  (as  St.  Matthew  also  does)  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  but  also  by  alone  preserving  to  us  the  record  how  in 
no  less  than  six  instances  during  our  Lord's  ministry — at  His 
baptism,  after  cleansing  the  leper,  before  calling  His  twelve 
Apostles,  at  His  transfiguration,  on  the  cross  for  His  mur- 
derers, and,  with  His  last  breath, — our  Saviour  prayed. 
Though  He  was  the  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  yet  as  a  Man 
He  prayed  to  His  Father  in  heaven.  It  is  in  St.  Luke  (as  in 
St.  Paul)  that  we  find  twice  repeated,  the  thought  and  the 
rule,  that  men  ought  to  pray  always,  to  pray  without  ceasing, 
and  not  to  faint.  And  this  exhortation  is  emphasised  by  the 
two  parables  (preserved  by  St.  Luke  alone)  ^  which  encourage 
us  to  a  persistent  energy,  a  holy  importunity,  a  storming  of 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  by  violence,  a  victorious  refusal  to  be 
denied  the  granting  of  our  prayers — the  parables  of  the 
friend  at  midnight  and  of  the  unjust  judge.  Thus  the  Gospel 
of  eucharistic  hymns  is  also  specially  the  Gospel  of  unceasing 
prayers.3 

III.  Passing  over  minor  characteristics,  this  Gospel  is  marked 
in  many  details  by  two  main  features — the  presentation  of 
the  Gospel  in  its  gratuitousness  and  in  its  universality.  "  By 
grace  ye  are  saved  through  faith,"  might  be  the  motto  of  St. 
Luke  as  of  his  great  friend  and  teacher  St.  Paul.  The  word 
"  grace,"  the  word  "  Saviour  "  or  "  salvation,"  the  words  "  to 
tell  glad  tidings,"  often  recur  in  it ;  ^  and  these  rich  words 
are  applied  not  exclusively  to  the  Jews,  but  universally  to 
all.     The  angels  in  their  opening  song  announce  a  Saviour 

1  Westcott,  Introd.  p.  3o4.     :Maiirice,  Unity  of  the  Neio  Test.  p.  236. 

-  Luke  xviii.  1  ;  xxi.  30  ;  xi.  5-13. 

'  It  is  also  the  Gospel  of  thanksgiving.  Mention  is  made  no  less  than  seven 
times  of  "glorifying  God"  by  praise  (ii.  '20  ;  v.  25  ;  vii.  1(5 ;  xiii.  13  ;  xvii. 
15  ;  xviii.  43  ;  xxiii.  47). 

■•  Xipi%  eight  times  ;  (vayye\i(o/xai  ten  times. 


Universality  and  Tolerance.  79 

and  good  will  towards  men.  Jesus  is  not  only  the  Son  of  st.  luke. 
David,  01  even  the  Son  of  Abraham,  but  the  Son  of  Adam, 
the  Son  of  God.  It  is  St.  Luke  alone  who  ends  the  prophecy 
of  Isaiah  about  the  Baptist  with  the  words,  "  And  all  fiesh 
shall  see  the  salvation  of  God."  He  alone  records  the  sermon 
on  the  text  which  prophesied  that  Jesus  should  heal  the 
brokenhearted  and  preach  deliverance  to  the  captive.  Lastly 
(to  omit  many  other  instances),  in  him  alone  does  the  Lord 
ascend  to  His  Father  in  heaven  blessing  His  people  with  up- 
lifted hands.  Tradition  says  that  the  Evangelist  was  a  painter ; 
a  painter  in  the  common  sense  he  was  not,  but  in  another 
sense  he  was ;  and  what  a  picture  of  our  Saviour  Christ  does 
this  great  ideal  painter  set  forth  to  us — how  divine,  how  exqui- 
site, how  circled,  as  it  were,  with  a  rainbow  !  He  comes  with 
angel  carols ;  He  departs  with  priestly  benedictions.  We 
catch  our  first  glimpse  of  Him  in  the  manger  cradle  of  Beth- 
lehem ;  our  last,  as  from  the  slopes  of  Olivet,  He  vanishes 
into  the  cloud  of  glory  with  pierced  hands  upraised  to  bless. 

IV.  These  two  grand  dominant  ideas  of  the  gratuitousness 
and  universality  of  the  Gospel,  as  this  beloved  and  loving 
Evangelist  records  it,  are  applied  in  various  ways — every  one 
of  which  is  full  of  instruction. 

a.  The  Judaism  of  that  day  had  degenerated  (as  all 
spurious  religion  tends  to  degenerate)  into  a  religion 
of  hatreds.  Then,  as  in  many  ages,  religion  had  come 
to  be  identified  with  a  partisanship,  which  clothed  its  own 
egotism  under  the  guise  of  zeal  for  God,  and  lost  itself 
in  a  frenzy  of  persecuting  zeal  against  all  opinions  and  all 
practices  which  were  not  its  own.  The  Pharisaic  Jews  hated 
the  Gentiles,  hated  the  Samaritans,  despised  the  poor,  op- 
pressed womanhood,  insulted  publicans,  would  have  called 
down  fire  from  heaven  on  all  who  differed  from  themselves. 
Far  different  is  the  spirit  of  the  Gospel  as  set  forth  by  St. 
Luke.  In  his  pages,  towards  every  age,  towards  either  sex, 
towards  all  nations,  towards  all  professions,  towards  men  of 
every  opinion  and  all  shades  of  character,  our  blessed  Lord 


80  The  Gospels. 

appears  as  Christus  Consolator,  the  Good  Physician  of  souls,  the 
Gospeller  of  the  poor,  the  Brother  who  loves  all  His  brethren 
in  the  great  family  of  God,  the  impartial  Healer  and  En- 
nobler  of  a  sick  and  suffering  humanity,  the  Desire  of  all 
nations,  the  Saviour  of  the  world. 

/S.  St.  Luke's  is  the  Gospel  of  the  infancy.  St.  Matthew  too 
tells  us  something  of  the  Saviour's  birth ;  but  he  does  not 
record  the  birth  and  infancy  of  the  Baptist,  nor  the  Annunci- 
ation, nor  the  meeting  of  Mary  and  Elizabeth,  nor  the  song 
of  the  herald  angels,  nor  the  Circumcision,  nor  the  Presenta- 
tion in  the  Temple,  nor  the  growth  of  Jesus  in  universal 
favour  and  sweet  submission,  nor,  above  all,  that  one  anec- 
dote of  His  Confirmation  at  twelve  years  old,  which  is 
"  the  solitary  flower  gathered  from  the  silence  of  thirty  years." 
All  three  Evangelists  indeed  tell  us  how  "  they  brought 
young  children  to  Christ,"  and  how  He  laid  His  sacred  hands 
upon  the  little  heads;  but  by  narrating  the  infancy  and  boyhood 
of  Christ,  St.  Luke  teaches  us  more  effectually  that  even  in 
infancy,  even  in  boyhood.  Humanity  at  every  period  of  its 
brief  life  is  sacred,  for  it  is  Humanity  redeemed  and  con- 
secrated from  the  cradle  to  the  grave.  The  valley  of  its  utmost 
weakness,  no  less  than  its  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death, 
has  been  illuminated  by  the  footsteps  of  its  heavenly  King.^ 

7.  St.  Luke's  is  the  Gospel  to  Gentiles  as  well  as  Jews.  He 
dwells  on  Christ's  ministry  to  the  world.  At  the  very  begin- 
ning of  the  ministry  he  records  the  sermon  at  Nazareth  (iv. 
16-30),  which  overthrows  all  exclusive  Jewish  hopes ;  records 
the  hymn  about  Christ  as  "  a  Light  to  lighten  the  Gentiles ; " 
the  prophei^y  that  "  all  flesh  shall  see  the  salvation  of  God  ; " 
the  destined  end  that  repentance  and  remission  of  sins 
should  be  preached  unto  all  nations,  beginning  at  Jerusalem ; 
the  parallels  of  Elijah  sent   to   the   heathen   Sarepta,  and 

1  Hence  this  Gospel  is  preeminently  anti-docctie.  The  Docetae  denied  the 
true  humanity  of  Christ,  and  treated  His  life  on  earth  as  an  illusory  semblance, 
St.  Luke  alhules  to  the  human  existence  of  our  Lord  before  birth  (i.  40)  ;  as  a 
babe  (ii.  16) ;  as  a  little  child  (ii.  27) ;  as  a  boy  (ii.  40)  ;  and  as  a  man 
(iii.  22). 


The  Gospel  of  Wo7nan7iood.  81 

Elisha  healing  the  heathen  leper ;  the  fuller  details  of  the  st.  luke. 
mission  of  the  seventy  who,  by  their  number,  typified  the 
supposed  number  of  the  nations  of  the  world.  The  same 
thought  appears  in  the  carrying  back  to  Adam  the  genealogy 
of  Him  whom  St.  Paul  calls,  "  the  second  Adam."  In  the 
other  Evangelists  this  point  of  view  is  not  passed  over,  but 
it  acquires  its  fullest  prominence  in  the  Gospel  of  St.  Luke. 
And  thus  the  third  Gospel  becomes  one  great  comment  on 
the  truth  enunciated  by  St.  Paul  at  Athens,  that  "  God  hath 
made  of  one  blood  all  nations  of  men  ....  that  they 
should  seek  the  Lord,  if  haply  they  might  feel  after  Him  and 
find  Him,  though  He  be  not  far  from  every  one  of  us."  ^ 

S.  It  is  also  the  Gospel  of  womanhood.^  St.  Luke  alone 
records  the  special  graciousness  and  tenderness  of  Jesus  to 
women.  He  alone  tells  of  the  raising  of  the  dead  boy  for 
whom  the  heart  of  Jesus  was  touched  with  compassion,  be- 
cause he  was  "  the  only  son  of  his  mother,  and  she  was  a 
widow  ;  "  he  alone  that  Jesus  was  accompanied  in  His  mission 
journeys — not  by  warriors  like  David,  not  by  elders  like 
Moses,  not  by  kings  and  princes  like  the  Herods — but  by  a 
most  humble  band  of  ministering  women.  He  alone  pre- 
serves the  narratives,  treasured  with  delicate  reserve  and 
holy  reticence  in  the  hearts  of  the  blessed  Virgin  and  of  the 
saintlyEIizabeth — narratives  which  show  in  every  line  the  pure 
and  tender  colouring  of  a  woman's  thoughts.  He  alone  tells 
us  how  honest  Martha  was  cumbered  with  much  serving,  and 
how  Mary  of  Bethany — the  gentle  and  the  lowly — chose, 
sitting  humbly  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  the  better  part ;  he  alone ' 
how  the  Lord  once  addressed  to  a  poor,  crushed,  trembling, 
humiliated  sufferer  the  tender  name  of  "  daughter " ;  he 
alone  how,  when  the  weeping  women  mingled  with  the 
crowds  who  followed  Him  as  He  passed  to  Calvary,  He 
turned  and  said,  "  Daughters  of  Jerusalem,  weep  not  for  me, 
but  weep  for  yourselves  and  for  your  children."     The  Scribes 

^  The  word  yw^  occur?  nearly  as  often  in  St.  Luke  as  in  Loth  the  other 
Synoptists  put  together. 
'^  Acts  xvi.  ]4. 


82  The  Gospels. 

and  Pharisees  gathered  up  their  robes  lest  they  should  touch 

a  woman  in  the  streets  or  synagogues ;  they  pretended  that 

it  was  a  disgrace  to  look  at,  much  more  to  talk  to,  a  woman ;  ^ 

but  He,  the  holy  and  the  sinless,  knew  that  in  the  normal 

life  of  pure  humanity  it  is  only  the  twofold  heart  which  beats 

with  one  full  life ;  that  man  and  woman  must  together  walk 

this  world 

"  Yoked  to  all  exercise  of  noble  end, 
And  so  through  those  dark  gates  across  the  wold 
Which  no  man  knows." 

V.  Again,  St.  Luke's  is  the  Gospel  pre-eminently  of  the  poor 
and  of  humble  people,  whom  the  world  despises  and  ignores. 
In  his  Gospel  it  is  to  the  poor  peasant-girl  of  Nazareth 
that  the  angel  comes.  It  is  she  who  represents  humanity 
in  its  lowest,  simplest  form,  and  the  only  "  sanda,  sanc- 
tissima "  that  she  can  claim  is  in  the  pure  and  sweet  sub- 
mission of  "  Behold  the  handmaid  of  the  Lord."  Nor  is  it 
to  kings  or  priests  or  Pharisees  that  the  herald  angels  sing, 
but  to  simple  "  shepherds,  abiding  in  the  field,  watching 
over  their  flocks  by  night."  Nor  is  it  Hillel  or  Shammai,  or 
Annas  or  Caiaphas — not  rabbis  white  with  the  snows  of  a 
hundred  winters,  or  pontiffs  with  "gems  oracular"  upon 
their  breasts — who  take  the  infant  Jesus  in  their  arms,  but 
unknown  men  ^  and  widowed  women,  waiting  only,  in  devout 
hope,  for  the  Consolation  of  Israel.  And  there  is  so  much 
about  the  poor  and  the  hungry  in  St.  Luke,  that  his  has 
ever  been  called  (though  very  erroneously)  the  Gospel  of 
•Ebionites.3  He  alone  reports  the  parable  of  Dives  and 
Lazarus ;  he  alone  that  of  the  rich  fool ;  he  alone  the  calling 
of  "  the  poor,  the  maimed,  the  halt,  the  blind  "  to  the  great 

'   John  iv.  27,  tOaii-iaa-av  Sti  //.erd  yvvaiicis  ^\a.\€i. 

-   Luke  ii.  25,  &.vQponros  f  uvofxa  ^vufdu. 

'  The  word  Ebionite  is  derived  from  the  Hebrew  Ebion,  "poor."  The 
Ebionites  were  Jewish  Christians  who  maintained  the  eternal  validity  of  the 
Jewish  law,  and  the  Messiahship  but  not  the  Divinity  of  Christ.  They 
gradually  dwindled  into  a  sect  on  the  shores  of  the  Dead  Sea.  On  the 
imaginary  relation  of  St.  Luke  to  the  Gospel  of  the  Hebrews,  see  Keim, 
i.  104. 


The  Gospel  of  the  Poor.  83 

supper  ;  he  alone  the  warning  not  to  choose  chief  seats,  and  st.  lukk 
of  the  humble  exalted;  he  alone  the  counsel  to  the  Pharisees 
to  "  give  alms " ;  and  to  the  disciples  to  "  sell  what  they 
have  : "  and  the  advice  of  St.  John  the  Baptist  to  part  with 
one  of  two  coats.^  It  is  not  by  any  means  that  he  reprobates 
the  mere  possession  of  riches.  He  recognises  the  faithfulness 
of  a  Nicodemus  and  a  Joseph  of  Arimathaea ;  but  he  saw  the 
special  necessity,  in  such  days  as  those,  to  admonish  the  rich 
men  who  were  grasping  and  oppressive  and  illiberal.  Like 
St.  James,  he  felt  it  to  be  his  duty  to  warn  all  who  were 
tempted,  as  the  rich  in  all  ages  are  tempted,  to  trust  in  un- 
certain riches,  instead  of  being  "  rich  towards  God."  It  is  not 
that  he  holds  poverty  in  itself  to  be  a  beatitude,  but  only 
that  kind  of  poverty  which  is  "  not  voluntary  nor  proud,  but 
only  accepted  and  submissive ;  not  clear-sighted  nor  tri- 
umphant, but  subdued  and  patient — partly  patient  in  tender- 
ness of  God's  will,  partly  patient  in  blindness  of  man's  op- 
pression— too  laborious  to  be  thoughtful,  too  innocent  to  be 
conscious,  too  long-experienced  in  sorrow  to  be  hopeful ; 
waiting  in  its  peaceful  darkness  for  the  unconceived  dawn, 
yet  not  without  its  sweet,  complete,  untainted  happiness, 
like  intermittent  notes  of  birds  before  the  daybreak,  or  the 
first  gleams  of  heaven  s  amber  in  the  eastern  grey."  Which 
is  there  of  us  all  who  does  not  need  this  lesson  ?  "  Who  is 
there  almost,"  as  Milton  asks,  "  who  measures  wisdom  by 
simplicity,  strength  by  suffering,  dignity  by  lowliness  ? " 
And  if  we  need  that  this  lesson  should  be  brought  home 
to  us,  where  can  we  find  it  more  tenderly  and  more 
affectionately  expressed  than  in  St.  Luke  ? 

VI.  But,  more  than  this,  St.  Luke's  Gospel  is  the  Gospel 
not  only  of  children  and  of  the  Gentiles,  and  of  the  humble 
and  the  despised,  of  the  blind,  the  lame,  the  halt,  the 
maimed,  but  even  of  the  publican  and  the  harlot,  the  prodi- 
gal and  the  outcast ;  not  only  of  Mary,  but  of  the  Magdalene  ; 

1  See  iii.  10,  11  ;  x.  38-42  ;  xiv.  12-24  ;  xvi.  14  31.  We  find  in  the  Acta 
the  same  fondness  for  the  Gospel  of  self-denial. 

G    2 


84  The  GospeU. 

ST.  LUKE,  not  only  of  Zacchaeus,but  of  the  dying  thief.  There  are  two 
conditions  of  human  life ; — the  one  is  pompous,  critical,  in- 
dependent, self-satisfied.  It  is  represented  in  the  world  by 
the  airs  of  little,  brief  authority,  and  in  the  Church  by  the 
boastful  tone,  the  censorious  arrogance,  the  broad  phylactery. 
It  is  human  life  as  seen  in  the  rich  and  haughty  Pharisee  of 
to-day,  no  less  than  it  was  seen  2,000  years  ago ; — the  life 
and  bearing  of  the  person  who  has  succeeded  in  trade,  or  made 
a  good  marriage,  or  of  whom  people  are  afraid ;  of  the  man 
who  "  holds  his  head  high,  and  cares  for  no  man,  he."  And 
there  is  quite  the  other  side  of  human  life ; — the  condition 
of  the  depressed,  the  poor,  the  unprosperous  ;  of  the  man  who 
has  not  made  a  success  of  life,  as  men  count  success ;  of  the 
weak,  who  feel  themselves  weak.  It  is  the  life  of  failure 
which  recognises  itself  as  failure,  for  which  no  hope  dawns 
on  this  side  the  grave.  Or,  much  sadder  even  than  this ! 
There  is  the  humanity  that  is  conscious  of  its  shame : 
crushed  by  its  evil,  accepting  as  its  due  the  contempt  poured 
upon  it ;  not  turning  like  even  the  trampled  worm ;  which 
knows  that  it  has  squandered  all,  and  made  of  health  a  ship- 
wreck, and  of  character  a  byword,  and  of  all  life  a  blank 
mistake.  How  pitiless  is  the  world  to  these  !  How  it  exults 
over  a  man  that  has  once  slipped  !  How  it  rakes  out  of  his 
past  years  his  buried  faults !  How  it  evokes  from  the  un- 
forgetting  tomb  the  pale  ghosts  of  his  past  delinquencies ! 
The  lessons  of  this  Gospel  should  make  us  blush  if  ever  we 
are  eager  to  point  the  first  finger,  or  to  fling  the  first  stone. 
To  delight  in  blame,  to  revel  in  depreciation,  is  the  charac- 
teristic of  the  very  basest  of  mankind.  And  are  we  more 
sinless  than  the  sinless  One  ?  more  indignant  at  wrong 
than  He  ?  Yet,  while  He  had  plain  thunderings  and  light- 
nings for  impenitent  Pharisaism  and  triumphant  wickedness, 
how  did  He  treat  the  sinful  who  knew  that  they  were  sinful, 
and  the  fallen  who  did  not  deny  their  fall  ?  Now  it  is  a 
tax-gatherer  of  bad  reputation,  and  He  says,  "  He  also  is  a 
son  of  Abraham."     Now  it  is  a  gay  young  fool,  who  has 


The  Gospel  of  Sinners.  85 

devoured  his  living  with  harlots,  and  comes  all  ragged  and 
degraded  from  the  far  land  and  the  feeding  swine ;  and  while 
he  is  yet  a  great  way  off,  his  father  has  compassion  ou  him, 
and  falls  on  his  neck  and  kisses  him.  Now  it  is  a  broken- 
down  woman  who  has  touched  Him,  and  He  tenderly  shields 
her  shrinking  anguish  from  the  scorn  of  the  unsympathising 
crowd.  Now  it  is  a  coarse  bandit,  dying  in  agony  upon  the 
cross,  and  He  says,  "  To-day  shalt  thou  be  with  Me  in  Para- 
dise." Now  it  is  a  miserable  castaway,  her  soul  full  of  seven 
devils,  who  steals  behind  Him  to  kiss  His  feet  as  she  weeps 
amid  her  tangled  hair ;  and,  while  the  proud,  hard  Pharisee 
scoffs,  and  comments,  and  sneers.  He  says,  "  Simon,  seest 
thou  this  woman  ?  I  came  into  thy  house  ;  thou  gavest  Me 
no  water  for  My  feet,  but  she  hath  wetted  My  feet  with 
tears  and  wiped  them  with  the  hairs  of  her  head.  Thou 
gavest  Me  no  kiss ;  but  this  woman,  since  the  time  I  came 
in,  hath  not  ceased  to  kiss  My  feet.  My  head  with  oil  thou 
didst  not  anoint;  but  this  woman  hath  anointed  My  feet 
with  ointment.  Wherefore,  I  say  unto  thee,  her  sins  which 
are  many,  are  forgiven ;  for  she  loved  much.  And  He  said 
unto  her,  Thy  sins  are  forgiven." 

VII.  Lastly,  this  divine  and  gracious  universality  of  tender- 
ness is  extended — which  seems  among  Christians  to  be  the 
hardest  thing  of  all — even  to  those  who  differ  from  us  in 
religious  opinions.  St.  Luke's  is  pre-eminently  the  Gospel 
of  tolerance.^  Even  against  the  Jews  he  does  not  breathe 
a  single  harsh  syllable.  It  shows  how  deeply  he  has  grasped 
the  truth  that  Christ  hath  "  other  sheep  which  are  not  of 
this  fold,"  though  they  all  form  the  one  flock.  St.  Luke 
may  teach  us  the  deeply-needed  lesson  that  all  religious 
rancour — whether  it  call  itself  Protestant  or  Catholic,  Evan- 
gelical or  Ritualist — is  not  religious  but  irreligious;  not 
Christian,  but  un-Christian  and  anti-Christian,  Hear  what 
Christ  says.     The  Samaritans  were  held  by  the  Jews  to  be 

^  "  On  ne  fut  jamais  moins  sectaire.  Tout  y  revMe  un  esprit  large  et  doiix. " 
—  Renan,  Leu  Evnngilcs,  p.  282. 


86  The  Gospels. 

IT.  LUKK.  deadly  heretics,  and  Jesus  Himself  told  them  that  they 
"worshipped  that  which  they  knew  not:"^ — yet  how  does 
He  commend  the  gratitude  of  the  Samaritan  leper  !  How 
does  He  choose  as  His  type  of  love  to  our  neighbour,  not  the 
indifferent  priest,  or  the  peering  Levite,  but  the  Good 
Samaritan !  "  Let  us  call  down  fire  from  heaven  as  Elijah 
did,"  cry  the  religious  controversialists  of  all  times ;  and 
to  all  times  comes  the  meek  rebuke  of  the  Saviour, 
"  Ye  know  not,  ye,  what  manner  of  spirit  ye  are  of ;  ^  for 
the  Son  of  Man  is  not  come  to  destroy  men's  lives,  but  to 
save  them." 

"  We  forbad  him,  because  he  foUoweth  not  us ;  "  so  have 
the  champions  of  party  dogmatism  fiercely  exclaimed,  age 
after  age,  hampering  and  hindering  many  a  grand  discovery 
of  science  and  many  a  holy  work  of  good  ;  to  whom  comes 
across  the  centuries,  the  mild,  healing  word  of  the  tolerance 
of  Jesus,  "  Forbid  him  not ;  for  he  that  is  not  against  us,  is 
for  us." 

VIII.  Such,  then,  is  the  Gospel  of  St.  Luke; — the  Gospel 
of  the  Greek  and  of  the  future ;  of  catholicity  of  mind ;  the 
Gospel  of  hymns  and  of  prayers ;  the  Gospel  of  the  Saviour ; 
the  Gospel  of  the  universality  and  gratuitousness  of  salva- 
tion ;  the  Gospel  of  holy  toleration ;  the  Gospel  of  those  whom 
the  religious  world  regards  as  heretics;  the  Gospel  of  the 
publican,  and  the  outcast,  and  the  humble  poor,  and  the 
weeping  Magdalene,  and  the  crucified  malefactor ;  the  Gospel 
of  the  lost  piece  of  money  and  the  lost  sheep  ;  the  Gospel  of 
the  good  Samaritan  and  of  the  prodigal  son ;  ^  the  Gospel  of 
the  saintly  life,  of  pity,  of  forgiveness  obtained  by  faith,  of 
pardon  for  all  the  world ;  the  Gospel  of  grace  and  of  the 
glad  tidings  of  free  salvation ;  the  Gospel  of  Him  who  was, 
as  we  all  are,  the  Son  of  Adam,  and  who  died  that  we  all 

'  John  iv.  22  '  Luke  ix.  55,  oJk  oifSore vfxus. 

'  It  is  remarkable  that  St.  Matthew's  formula  for  parahles  is  "  The  kinj^dom 
of  Heaven  is  likened  unto."  That  of  St.  Luke  is  more  "  human  and  humane  " 
viz.,  "A  certain  man,"  "  A  certain  rich  man,"  &c.  See  x.  30  ;  xiv.  16  ;  xv. 
11  ;  xvi.  1,  19;  xviii.  2  ;  xix.  12. 


Beauty  of  the  Gospel.  87 

might  be  the  sons  of  God.     Such  are  its  lessons.^     Have  not     st.  luki 
some  of  us  very  much  misread  and  mistaken  them  ?     Has 
the  best  Christian  among  us  all  done  more  than  just  begin 
to  spell  out  their  meaning  ? 

^  "DasEvangeliumdesMenschensohnes,  derHumanitatChristi,  derVerklarung 
aller  Humanitat,"  Lange,  Bibelkundc,  p.  187  ;  "  Le  son  pur  et  clair  d'une  ame 
tout  argentiue,"  Renan.  The  word  x^^po-  occurs  iu  this  Gospel  no  less  than 
eight  times  (Luke  i.  14;  ii.  10;  viii.  13;  x.  17;  xv.  7,  10  ;  xxiv.  41,  51). 
Such  terms  as  eKeos,  irians,  diKaioavvr],  Trvev/ua  ayiov,  yvuais,  kc,  are  common 
to  St.  Luke  and  St.  Paul. 


88  The  Gosjjcls. 


NOTE  I. 

FURTHER   CHARACTERISATION   OP   ST.   LUKE. 

Besides  the  ten  characteristics  of  St.  Luke's  Gospel  which  we  have 
pointed  out,  we  may  notice  further  that  St.  Luke's  Gospel  is  differen- 
tiated by 

(xi.)  Its  careful  chronological  order  (1 — 3).  Tlie  bias  of  St.  Luke  is 
historical,  as  that  of  St.  Matthew  is  theological.  "  Luke  is  like  a  botanist 
who  delights  to  study  each  flower  in  the  very  spot  where  it  has  sprung 
up,  and  amidst  its  native  surroundings.  Matthew  resembles  the  gardener 
who  is  culling  splendid  bouquets  for  some  special  purpose  which  he  has 
in  view." — Godet,  New  Test.  Studies,  p.  16. 

(xii.)  Its  very  important  preface.  This  preface  tells  us  that  St.  Luke 
had  read  previous  "  attempts  "  to  write  Gospels,  and  deeming  them  in- 
adequate, had  used  all  diligence  to  secure  completeness  {Traa-tv),  accuracy 
(aVptiScoy),^  chronological  order  (Kadf^ijs),  and  earlier  commencement 
{(Ivcodev). 

(xiii.)  Its  command  of  the  Greek  language.^ 

(xiv.)  The  prominence  given  to  the  antithesis  between  light  and  darlc- 
ness,  forgiveness  and  non-forgiveness,  God  and  Satan  (iv.  13  ;  viii.  12 ; 
X.  17-20;  xiii.  10-17  ;  xxii.  3,  31-34). 

(xv.)  The  familiarity  with  the  LXX.  (im^dWov,  eTna-iria-fios,  v\l/LaTos, 
tTTty/iij,  duTi^aXXfiv,  fvderos,  Trfpia-naaBai,  8o)^t],  XvertreXet,  <S:c.)  and  the 
Apocrypha  (see  xii.  19  ;  xviii.  8  ;  vi.  35  ;  i.  42). 

(xvi.)  The  numerical  concinnity  which  marks  the  arrangement  of  the 
sections.  In  the  sections  and  sub-sections  we  find  a  constant  recurrence 
of  the  sacred  numbers  3  and  7. 

Although  there  is  an  Hebraic  tinge  in  the  hymns  and  speeches  which 
St.  Luke  merely  records,  and  in  narratives  where  he  is  following  an 
earlier  or  Aramaic  document,  his  own  proper  style  abounds  in  isolated 
phrases  and  words  chiefly  classical,^  and  his  style  is  more  flowing  than 

^  "  Lucam  tradnnt  veteres.  .  .  magis  Oraecas  Uterus  scisse  quam  Hihracas. 
Unde  et  sernio  ejus.  .  .  .  cnmptior  est,  et  saecularem  redolet  clo(juentiam." 
— Jer.  ad  Daman.  Ep.  20.  "Where  tlie  style  is  less  pure,  and  ahounds  iu  Hebra- 
isms, we  find  internal  evidence  that  St.  Luke  is  closely  following  some  Aramaic 
document  in  which  the  oral  tradition  had  been  I'educed  to  writing.  The 
preface  shows  in  what  a  perfect  Greek  style  he  could  have  written. 

^  Instances  are— royuj/col  for  ypafiixaTfTs,  iniffTdrns  for  Pafi0i,  Xlixvi]  for 
6d.\a(T<ra.  Sirrejj'  Avx^of  or  trvp  for  /coi'eic,  TrapaKfKvfityos  for  napa\vTiK6s,  kKIvt] 
for  Kpa.00aTos,  nopfvu/xat  for  vndyw,  (except  in  one  or  two  places),  the  particles 


Further  Characteristics.  89 

that  of  St.  Matthew  and  St.  Mark.  His  peculiar  skill  as  a  \vriter  lies  rather 
in  "psychologic  comments,"^  and  the  reproduction  of  conversations  with 
their  incidents,  than  in  such  graphic  and  vivid  touches  as  those  of  St. 
^Mark.  He  is  also  a  great  master  of  light  and  shade,  i.e.  he  shows  re- 
markable skill  in  the  presentation  of  profoundly  instructive  personal 
contrasts — e.g.  Zacharias  and  Mary  ;  Simon  and  the  Sinful  Woman ; 
^lartha  and  Mary  ;  the  Pharisee  and  the  Publican  ;  the  Good  Samaritan, 
Priest,  and  Levite  ;  Dives  and  Lazarus  ;  beatitudes  and  woes  ;  tears  and 
Ilosannas  ;  and  the  penitent  and  impenitent  robber.^ 

It  is  the  presence  of  these  characteristics  that  has  earned  for  this 
Gospel  the  praise  (already  mentioned)  of  being  "  the  most  beautiful  book 
that  has  ever  been  written."  ^ 

fjiiv  oZv  and  re,  the  comhinatiou  avTos  b,  the  more  frequent  use  of  the  optative, 
rb  up-nfjLivov  for  T(i  p7]9eu,  kc.  He  avoids  the  Latinism  KoSpafTt]!,  and  the 
word  "  metamorphosis  "  {fj.erefxop(pu>B7])  which  the  Greeks  might  have  misunder- 
stood (ix.  29).  He  uses  'IfpoffSKvfia  only  three  times,  but  'Ifpouo-oA^/ti 
twenty-six  times.  A  long  list  may  be  found  in  Dr.  Davidson's  Introd.  to 
the  New  Test.  ii.  57-67,  and  in  Dr.  Abbott's  article  "Gospels"  in  the  Encycl. 
Britannica.  In  some  instances  St.  Luke  corrects  an  awkward  plirase  found  in 
the  other  Synoptists,  e.g.  by  using  cpi\ovi>Toov  fov  QiXSvrwv  iairaa-ixovs  (xx.  46)  ; 
by  the  addition  of  Taaaojxivos  after  vir  f^ovcrlav  (vii.  8)  ;  by  saying  irf Treicr/teVos 
fcrrlv  'IccdvfTiv  tr poprjrr)!'  elfot  (xx.  6)  for  ex""""'  '''^''  'I'l'ai'J'rjJ'  ws  Trpo(pr]Triw  ; 
by  substituting  oi'  KaTeadiovcn  (xx.  47)  for  of  Kariffdoires;  by  using  invixpa 
(xxi.  2)  for  TTTooxr)  (except  when  quoting  Christ's  words),  and  vaTep-ofxaros  for 
the  less  accurate  vareprjcrewi  (xxi.  4).  For  other  instances  of  St.  Luke's 
editorial  changes  see  iv.  40  ;  vii.  25  ;  viii.  1  ;  xi.  13,  86,  39,  49,  51,  xii. 
51,  55.  Expressions  of  St.  Mark  which  might  have  been  cavilled  at  (e.g. 
"He  was  not  able,"  Mark  vi.  5  ;  "to  lay  hands  on  Him,"  iii.  21)  were 
omitted,  or  softened ;  see  the  tentative  miracle  (Mark  viii.  24). 

1  iii.  15  ;  vi.  11  ;  vii.  29,  30,  39  ;  xvi.  14,  &c.  Bishop  Ellicott,  Eist. 
Led.  p.  28. 

2  Satan  is  mentioned  six  times ;  only  three  times  in  St.  Matthew  and 
once  in  St.  John.  It  is  a  curious  circumstance,  showing  the  common  use 
made  by  the  Synoptists  of  a  fixed  oral  tradition  that  they  only  use  Sot/ioij' 
in  the  Gadarene  narrative  (Matt.  viii.  31  ;  Mark  v.  12  ;  Luke  viii.  29)  ; 
but  SaifiSfiov  forty-five  times.  It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  our  revisers  did 
not  keep  up  the  marked  distinction  between  haunting  "  demons  "  and  "  devils." 
"Devils"  occurs  many  times  in  our  Bibles,  but  not  once  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, except  in  the  sense  of  "slanderers"  (2  Tim.  iii.  3  ;  Tit.  ii.  3)  ;  and 
"Devil"  is  only  used  by  St.  Paul  in  Eph.  iv.  27  ;  vi.  11  j  1  Tim.  iii.  6  ; 
2  Tim.  ii.  26. 

3  This  praise  is  the  more  striking  because  of  the  source  from  which  it 
comes.  The  writer  adds  that  it  shows  "im  admirable  sentiment  populaire, 
une  fine  et  touchante  po&ie."  "C'est  surtout  dans  les  recits  de  TEufance  et 
de  la  Passion  que  Ton  trouve  un  art  divin.  .  .  Le  parti  qu'il  a  tire  de  Marthe 
et  de  Marie  sa  soeur  est  chose  merveillense  ;  aucune  plume  n'a  laiss^  tombcr 
dix  lignes  plus  charmantes.  L'^pisode  des  disciples  d'Emmaus  est  un  des 
recits  les  plus  fins,  les  plus  nuances  qu'il  y  ait  dans  aucune  langue."  "Son 
livre  est  nn  beau  recit  bieu  suivi,  a  la  fois  h^braique  et  hellenique,  joignant 
I'emotiondu  drame  Jilaserenitede  I'idylle.  Tout  y  rit,  tout  y  pleure,  tout  y 
chante  ;  partout  les  larmes  et  les  cantiques  ;  c'est  I'hynme  du  peuple  nouveau, 
I'Hosanna  des  petits  et  des  humbles  introduits  dans  le  royaume  de  Dieu." — 
Rexan. 


00  The  Gospels. 

The  Miracles  peculiar  to  St.  Luke  are — 

1.  The  miraculous  draught  of  fishes,     v.  4-11. 

2.  The  raising  of  the  widow's  son  at  Nain.     vii.  11-18. 

3.  The  woman  with  the  spirit  of  infirmity,     xiii.  11-17. 

4.  The  man  with  the  dropsy,     xiv.  1-6. 

5.  The  ten  lepers,     xvii.  11-19. 

6.  The  healing  of  Malchus.     xxii.  50,  51. 

The  Parables  peculiar  to  St.  Luke  are— 

1.  The  two  debtors,     vii.  41-43. 

2.  The  good  Samaritan,     x.  25-37. 

3.  The  importunate  friend,     xi.  5-8. 

4.  The  rich  fool.     xii.  16-21. 

5.  The  barren  fig-tree.     xiii.  6-9. 

6.  The  lost  piece  of  silver,     xv.  8-10. 

7.  The  prodigal  son.     xv.  11-32. 

8.  The  unjust  steward,     xvi.  1-13. 

9.  Dives  and  Lazarus,     xvi.  19-31. 

10.  The  unjust  judge,     xviii.  1-8. 

11.  The  Pharisee  and  the  publican,     xviii.  10-14. 

The  two  first  chapters  and  the  great  section,  ix.  51 — xviii.  14,  are 
mainly  peculiar  to  St.  Luke.  This  section,  descriptive  of  the  inci- 
dents in  the  Journey  of  Christ,  has  sometimes,  but  inadequately,  been 
called  "the  Gnomology"  or  collection  of  moral  teaching.  No  place  is 
mentioned  by  name  (ix.  52  ;  x.  38 ;  xi.  1 — xvii.  12).  Besides  the 
"greater  insertion "  there  is  a  lesser  insertion  (vii.  11 — viii.  3). 

And  in  addition  to  those  already  noted  above,  other  remarkable  inci- 
dents or  utterances  peculiar  to  him  are  John  the  Baptist's  answers  to  the 
people  (iii.  10-14)  ;  the  weeping  over  Jerusalem  (xix.  41-44)  ;  the 
conversation  with  Moses  and  Elias  (ix.  28-36)  ;  the  bloody  sweat 
(xxii.  44)  ;  the  sending  of  Jesus  to  Herod  (xxiii.  7-12)  ;  the  ad- 
dress to  the  Daughters  of  Jerusalem  (27-31) ;  the  prayer,  "Father,  for- 
give them "  (xxiii.  34) ;  the  penitent  robber  (40-43) ;  the  disciples  at 
Emraaus  (xxiv.  13-31) ;  particulars  of  the  Ascension  (xxiv.  50-53). 
Additional  touches  which  are  sometimes  of  great  importance  may  be 
found  in  iii.  22  ("  in  a  bodily  shape  "),  iv.  13,  ("  for  a  season  "),  iv.  1-6  ; 
v.  17,29,39;  vi.  11  ;  vii.  21,  &c. 

As  Jesus  was  "  born  under  the  Law,"  the  Law  is  more  often  men- 
tioned in  Chap.  ii.  (w.  22,  23,  24,  27,  29)  than  in  the  rest  of  the  Gospel. 


The  Gospel  of  Marcion.  91 


NOTE  II. 

THE   GOSPEL    OF   MAECION. 

MarcioTi  (about  A.D.  140)  not  only  knew  the  Gospel  of  St.  Luke,  but 
adopted  it  as  the  basis  of  his  own  Gospel  with  such  mutilations  as 
suited  his  peculiar  opinions.  This  fact  is  not  only  asserted  by  Irenaeus, 
Tertullian,  Epiphanius,  &c.,  but  may  now  be  regarded  as  conclusively 
proved,  and  accepted  by  modem  criticism.  Marcion  omitted  chapters 
i.  ii.  and  joined  iii.  1  with  iv.  31.  His  Gospel,  in  fact,  was  a  Gospel, 
"  written  a  ijriori.^' 

Marcion,  the  son  of  a  bishop  of  Sinope,  was  expelled  from  that  city 
by  his  father,  went  to  Rome  about  a.d.  143,  and  becoming  an  adherent 
of  the  Syrian  heretic  Cerdo,  founded  a  formidable  schism.  There  were 
in  his  system  Gnostic  elements  of  dualism  and  docetism.  He  wrote  a 
book  called  Antitheses  to  contrast  the  teachings  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments,  and  his  total  rejection  of  the  Old  Testament  necessitated 
his  rejection  of  a  large  part  of  the  New  which  bears  witness  to  the  Old. 
Consequently  he  only  accepted  the  authority  of  ten  Epistles  of  St.  Paul 
(discarding  the  Pastoral  Epistles)  and  of  a  mutilated  gospel  of  St.  Luke, 
in  which  about  122  verses  were  excinded.  Our  knowledge  of  Marcion's 
gospel  is  chiefly  derived  from  Tertiillian  {Adv.  Marcionem)  and 
Epiphanius  {Haer.  42).  Volkmar  {Das  Evang.  Marcion)  demonstrated 
that  Baur  and  Ritschl  were  mistaken  in  supposing  that  Marcion's  gospel 
represented  an  earlier  form  of  St.  Luke's.  He  proves  that  it  was  merely 
a  copy  with  a  few  dubious  readings  {e.g.  in  x.  22  ;  xi.  2  ;  xvi.  17  ;  xvii.  2  ; 
xviii.  19  ;  xx.  2,  &c.),  and  arbitrary  omissions  of  all  that  tended  to 
overthrow  Marcion's  special  heresies.  On  this  subject  see  Canon  West- 
cott's  Introd.  to  the  Gospels,  Appendix  D,  iv.  pp.  441-443,  Canon  of  the 
New  Test.  pp.  312-315  ;  Sanday,  Gospels  in  the  Second  Century,  c.  viii., 
and  Fortnightly  Rev.  June,  1875.  For  a  reproduction  of  Marcion's 
Gospel  see  Thilo.  Cod.  Apocr.  i.  401.  The  strangest  omission  by  Marcion 
is  that  of  the  Parable  of  the  Prodigal  Son.  As  regards  the  readings, 
modern  opinion  inclines  to  the  view  that  some  at  least  of  these  may  be 
worthy  of  consideration,  especially  as  they  often  affect  no  doctrine  or 
point  of  importance. 


92  The  Gospels. 


NOTE  III. 


ANALYSIS   OF   THE   GOSPEL. 


ST.  LUKE.        The  general  outline  of  St.  Luke's  Gospel  is  as  follows  : 

1.  Introduction,     i.  1-4. 

2.  The  PreiDaration  for  the  Nativity,     i.  5-80. 

3.  The  Nativity,     ii.  1-20. 

4.  The  Infancy,     ii.  21-38. 

5.  The  Boyhood,    ii.  30-52. 

6.  The  Manifestation,     iii.  1-iv.  13. 

7.  Early  Ministry,     iv.  14-vii.  50. 

8.  Later  Ministry  in  Galilee  and  its  neighbourhood,     viii. 

9.  Close  of  Galilean  Ministry  and  Journey  northwards,     ix.  1-50. 

10.  Incidents  and  Teachings  of  the  Journey  to  Jerusalem,      ix.  51- 

xviii.  14. 

11.  Incidents  and  Teachings  of  the  last  stages  of  the  Journey,  xviii. 

14-xix.  46, 

12.  Closing  Scenes  and  Death,     xix.  47-xxiii.  49. 

13.  The  Burial  and  Resurrection,     xxiii.  50-xxiv.  49. 

14.  The  Ascension,    xxiv.  50-53. 

The  keynote  of  the  Gospel  is  struck  in  i.  77,  "  To  give  knowledge  of 
salvation  unto  His  people  in  the  remission  of  their  sins." 

Compare  the  first  public  declaration  of  Jesus  Himself  :  "  The  Spirit 
of  the  Lord  is  upon  me,  because  He  hath  anointed  me  to  preach  glad 
tidings  to  the  poor,"  iv.  18,  19. 

And  His  last  declaration,  "  Thus  it  is  written,  that  the  Christ  should 
suffer,  and  rise  again  from  the  dead  ;  and  that  repentance  and  remission 
of  sins  should  he  preached  in  Ilis  name  unto  all  the  nations  beginning 
from  Jerusalem."     xxiv.  47. 


NOTE  IV. 

THE   MURATORIAN   FRAGMENT   ON   LUKE, 

The  allusion  to  St.  Luke  at  the  beginning  of  the  Muratorian  fragment 
in  as  follows  "Tertio  Evangelii  librum  secando  Lucan  Lucas  iste 
raedicus  post  acensum  Xpl   cum  eo  Paulus   quasi   ut  juris   studiosum 


The  Muratorian  Fragment  on  Liike.  93 

secundum  adsumsisset  uumeni  sito  ex  opinione  concriset  dmn  tamen  nee 
ipse  dvidit  in  came  et  ide  pro  asequi  potuit  ita  et  ad  nativitate  ioliannia 
incipet  dicere."  Corrected  from  the  gross  blunders  of  an  ignorant  scribe, 
and  conjecturally  emended,  this  seems  to  mean  "the  third  Book  of  the 
Gospel  according  to  Luke.  This  Luke,  a  physician,  after  the  ascension 
of  Christ  when  Paul  had  chosen  him  as  a  companion  of  his  journey 
wrote  in  his  own  name  as  he  heard  (ex  opinione  e^  a/co^y,  or  possibly 
Kara  to  bo^av,  Luke  i.  3.)  Yet  neither  did  he  himself  see  the  Lord  in 
the  flesh,  and  he  too  did  as  he  best  could  (?)  so  he  bogan  his  narrative 
even  from  the  birth  of  John." 


THE  GOSPEL  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

WRITTEN    PROBABLY  AT   EPHESUS   ABOUT   A.D.    90. 


"  Sed  Joannes  alil  bina 
Caritatis,  aquilina. 
Forma  fertur  in  diviua 
Puriori  lumine." 

Adam  de  Sto.  Yictork. 

"Sumtis  pennis  aquilae  et  ad  altioia  festinans  de  Veibo  Dei  disputat." — 
Jkr.  Prol.  in  Matt. 

"Aquila  ipse  est  Johannes  suliliminm  praedioator  et  Incis  intemae  atque 
acternae  fixis  oculis  contemplator." — Aug.  in  Joh.  Tr.  36. 

"  St.  Jolin  revealed  to  the  ivorld  in  his  three  works  the  threefold  picture  of 
the  life  in  God  : — in  the  Person  of  Christ  (the  Gospel),  in  the  Christian  (the 
Epistle),  and  in  the  Church  (the  Apocalyj)se).  He  anticipated  more  perfectly 
than  any  other  the  festival  of  eternal  life." — Godet. 


"And  the  "Word  became  flesh." — John  i.  14. 

.ST.  JOHN-.  Every  one  who  knows  anything  whatever  of  Biblical 
studies  is  aware  that  of  late  years  there  have  been 
many  formidable  attacks  on  the  authenticity  of  the  fourth 
Gospel.  Happily  it  does  not  belong  to  my  present  object  to 
enter  into  the  interminable  controversies  which  have  arisen 
around  that  question.^     It  has  of  course   been  my  duty  to 

^  The  discussion  began  with  Evanson's  Dissonance  of  the  Evangelists  in  1792. 
Itwas  continued  by  Vogel,  Bretschneider(1820),  Strauss  (1835),  Weisse  (1838). 
Bruno  Bauer  (1840),  F.  C.  Baur  (1844),  and  since  that  time  by  a  host  of 
writers,  especially  Zeller,  Schweglcr,  Volkmar,  Keim,  and  Hilgenfeld.  The 
latter  tried  "  to  throw  light  by  the  torch  of  Gnosticism  on  the  sanctuary  of 
Johannine  theology,"  and  was  followed  by  Keville,  D'Eichthal,  and  others. 
The  position  recently  adopted  by  Keim,  Scholten,  kc..,  is  that  St.  John  was 
uevur  in  Asia  at  all  ;  but  this  view  has  been  amply  refuted.     An  excellent 


Genuineness  of  the  Gospel.  95 

study  all  that  can  be  urged  against  the  Gospel  by  the  ablest 
followers  of  Baur,  and  by  those  who  in  this  particular  have 
accepted  their  conclusions ;  but  neither  in  Baur,  nor  Strauss, 
nor  Hilgenfeld,  nor  Eeuss,  nor  Keim,  nor  any  other  of  the 
able  critics  who  have  persuaded  themselves  that  the  Gospel 
was  the  work  of  a  Gnosticising  dreamer  in  the  second  century, 
have  I  met  with  any  argument  that  does  not  seem  to  me  to 
have  been  fully  and  fairly  answered.  So  long  as  the  arguments 
of  such  writers  as  Evvald,  Luthardt,  and  Weiss,  in  Germany ; 
Godet  in  France ;  Bishop  Lightfoot,  Dr.  Westcott,  and  Dr. 
Sanday  in  England  remain  unrefuted,  we  may  still  hold  to  the 
conviction  that  we  have  before  us  in  this  Gospel  a  genuine 
work  of  the  beloved  disciple.  Dr.  Westcott  especially,  in 
his  invaluable  commentary,  has  proved  in  a  most  decisive 
manner  that  the  writer  was  a  Jew ;  a  Jew  of  Palestine ;  an 
eyewitness  ;  an  Apostle  :  and  when  this  is  established  the  in- 
ference becomes  irresistible  that  he  was  the  Apostle  John,  The 
direct  evidence,  the  indirect  evidence,  the  external  evidence, 
the  internal  evidence,  all  combine,  and  severally  suffice,  not 
indeed  to  clear  the  subject  from  difficulties,  many  of  which 
are  inevitable  and  must  remain  insoluble,  but  to  prove  that 
the  hypothesis  of  spuriousness  is  encompassed  with  diffi- 
culties far  more  formidable.     No  one  has  ever  doubted  the 

sketch  of  the  controversy  is  given  by  Holtzmann  (in  Bursen's  JBihdwerJr), 
lleuss  {Gcseh.  d.  heil.  Schrifts  i.  2  and  7),  and  by  Godet  in  bis  St.  John 
(Introd.  c.  ii.).  John  the  Presbyter — a  sort  of  "spectral  duplicate"  of  the 
Apostle,  who,  as  has  been  shown  elsewhere  (by  Zahn,  Eiggenbach,  and  Professor 
Milligan,  and  in  my  Farly  Days  of  Christianity,  ii.  ad  fin.)  is  none  other  than 
the  Apostle  himself — has  been  evoked  as  the  author.  The  reader  will  find 
powerful  defences  of  the  genuineness  of  the  Gospel  in  the  editions  of  the 
Gospel  by  Liicke,  Meyer,  Hengstenberg,  Ewald,  Luthardt,  Lange,  Godet, 
Westcott,  and  in  Bishop  Lightfoot  {Contcm}).  Rev.  February,  1876)  ;  in  Dr. 
Sanday's  Fourth  Gospel ;  in  Weiss's  Lchen  Jcsu  ;  and  in  Dr.  Ezra  Abbott's 
Authorship  of  the  Fourth  Gospel.  The  Johannine  literature  in  this  century 
alone  would  fill  a  library  ;  but  the  objections  urged  against  the  genuineness 
of  the  Gospel  have  been  met  point  by  point,  and  nothing  can  invalidate  the 
mass  of  external  and  internal  evidence  in  its  favour  from  early,  varied,  and 
unanimous  testimony  ;  from  the  proof  that  in  the  second  century  it  was  not 
only  widely  known,  but  various  readings  had  already  risen  in  the  text  ;  from 
the  style,  the  knowledge  of  Palestine,  the  depth  of  insight  displayed,  the 
many  subtle  indications  that  we  are  reading  the  words  of  an  eye-witness  ;  and 
from  multitudes  of  conspiring  probabilities  derived  from  the  most  opposite 
quarters. 


96  The  Gospels. 

depth  and  the  beauty  of  this  Gospel,  No  one  can  reasonably 
doubt  that  it  was  written  by  the  author  of  the  First  EjDistle. 
If  St.  John  did  not  write  it,  it  was  written  by  one  whose 
spiritual  insight  it  would  be  hardly  possible  to  exaggerate 
Where,  whether  within  the  Apostolic  circle  or  outside  of  it, 
is  such  a  writer  to  be  found  unless  we  find  him  in  St.  John  ? 
Above  all,  where  are  we  to  look  for  such  a  writer  in  the 
second  century  ?  The  extant  Christian  literature  of  that 
century  is  before  us.  Except  to  those  who  have  studied  the 
writings  or  fragments  of  Clemens  Komanus,  the  pseudo-Bar- 
nabas, Papias,  Hegesippus,  Hermas,  Irenaeus,  Justin  Martyr, 
Ignatius,  and  other  writers,^  it  would  be  impossible  to  convey 
a  conception  of  the  immeasurable  inferiority  by  which  they 
are  separated  from  the  Gospel  of  St.  John.  In  that  litera- 
ture there  is  scarcely  a  gleam  of  the  exalted  genius,  of 
the  profound  thought,  of  the  indescribable  charm  which  in 
all  ages  has  won  the  homage  of  mankind  to  this  Gospel ; 
and  which,  even  in  this  age,  has  extorted  the  often  un- 
willing eulogies  of  sceptical  critics.^  To  which  of  the 
second  century  writings  would  Luther  have  applied  the 
glowing  language  which  he  uses  of  the  Fourth  Gospel  ? 
Which  of  the  Fathers  was  even  remotely  capable  of 
giving  forth  what  Herder  beautifully  calls  "  this  echo  of  the 
older  Gospels  in  the  upper  choirs  ? "  Keim  is  one  of  the 
most  devout,  and  learned  of  the  assailants  of  this  Gospel, 
yet  when  he  tries  to  meet  this  argument  his  embarrass- 
ment becomes  almost  ludicrous.  He  does  not  attempt 
to  face  it  except  in  one  brief  note,  and  all  that  he  has  to 
say  is  that  there  is  in  the  literature  of  the  second  century 
"  one  pearl "  in  the  Epistle  to  Diognetus,  and  "  much  that 
is  fine  in  the  Apologists,"  and  "even  on  Roman  soil  there 
are  Minucius  Felix  with  the  splendid  scenery  of  his  beautiful 
dialogue,  and  the  clever  and  beautiful  composition  in  the 
Clementine  Homilies."  If  this  is  all  that  can  be  said  by  a 
^  To  these  must  now  be  added  the  newly-discovered  and  very  important 
2  Almost  the  sole  exception  is  John  Stnart  Mill  {Three  Esttayn,  p.  253). 


Genuineness  of  the  Gospel.  97 

writer  like  Keim  in  answer  to  siicli  an  objection,  we  can  only  st.  john. 
say  cadit  quaestio.  Who  can  forbear  a  smile  when  he  hears 
of  Justin  Martyr,  or  Minucius  Felix  with  his  pretentious 
prettinesses,  or  even  the  anonymous  writer  of  the  extravagantly 
estimated  E23istle  to  Diognetus,  spoken  of  as  even  remotely 
comparable  to  St.  John  ?  The  forgery — I  would  use  the 
word  in  its  least  invidious  sense,  and  only  because  there  is  no 
other — of  this  Gospel  in  the  second  century  would  involve 
a  literary  problem  indefinitely  more  difficult  than  would  the 
appearance  of  Dante's  Divine  Comedy  or  Milton's  Paradise 
Lost  in  the  days  of  Walafrid  Strabo  or  Alcuin.  If,  in  the 
middle  of  the  second  century  there  had  been  any  man  who 
could  have  produced  such  a  book,  is  it  conceivable  that  one 
who  towered  so  immeasurably  above  all  his  contemporaries 
should  have  remained  a  nameless  forger — unnoticed  and 
unknown  ?  Further,  supposing  that  such  a  person  could 
have  existed,  would  he  with  such  beliefs  as  this  Gospel 
indicates  have  dared  or  wished  to  palm  upon  the  world  an 
audacious  fiction  respecting  the  Divine  Word  ?  If  the  Fourth 
Gospel  be  the  work  of  a  falsa.rins,  then  the  discourses  which 
centuries  of  saints  have  regarded  as  the  divinest  parts  of 
their  Lord's  teaching  were  the  work  of  a  pseudonymous 
romancer,  who  wrote  with  the  deliberate  intention  to  deceive. 
What  could  be  more  base  than  his  solemn  asseverations — 
which  would  in  that  case  be  not  only  shanieless,  but  little 
short  of  blasphemous  falsehoods — that  he  is  a  truthful  wit- 
ness? Renan,  with  skilful  euphuism,  talks  of  the  compo- 
sition of  the  Gospel  in  the  name  of  St.  John  as  "a  little 
literary  artifice,  resembling  those  of  which  Plato  is  fond  !  "  ^ 
Without  pausing  to  show  that  the  reference  to  Plato  is  here 
profoundly  misleading,  it  suffices  to  say  that  the  matter 
in  question  assumes  the  proportions  not  of  "  a  little  literary 
artifice,"  but  of  a  monstrous  and  inexcusable  deception. 
And  this  deception  is  not  only  in  this  case  a  literary 
miracle,  it   is   also   a   spiritual   impossibility.     Weiss  ^   says 

^  Eenan,  L'Eglisc  Chreticnne,  p.  53.  '■'  Zcheii  Jcsu,  i.  124. 

n 


98  The  Gospels. 

with  perfect  truth  that  "  if  it  be  the  poetry  of  a  semi- 
gnostic  philosopher  iu  tlie  second  century,  the  Fourth  Gospel 
is  not  only  an  illusive  will  of  the  wisp,  hut  in  reality  a  huge 
lie."  But  the  man  who  had  the  intellectual  capacity  to  forge 
this  book,  must  have  been  little  short  of  a  portent  if  he  also 
had  the  si^iritual  baseness  and  the  reckless  audacity  to  thrust 
upon  the  Church  his  own  fancies  as  the  record  and  revelation 
of  the  Living  Christ.  I  do  not  think  that  any  one  has  ever 
had  the  courage  to  charge  the  author  of  the  Fourth  Gospel 
with  gross  irreverence  and  fundamental  insincerity.  No  one 
has  ever  ventured  to  hint  that  he  did  not  believe  heart  and 
soul  in  the  Christ  of  whom  he  wrote,  as  the  Incarnation  of 
the  very  God.  If  then  this  were  so,  could  there  be  any 
presumption  so  monstrous  as  that  of  a  writer  who,  with  the 
Gospels  in  his  hands,  devised  a  deliberate  falsification  and 
invention  of  the  words  and  works  of  Him  whom  He  pro- 
claimed to  be  the  Son  of  God  ?  This  at  least  was  a  course  on 
which  the  worst  and  boldest  of  the  Gnostic  heresiarchs  would 
hardly  have  ventured — much  less  the  holy  and  humble 
disciple  who  gave  to  the  world  "  the  spiritual  Gospel."  It  has 
been  well  said  by  Gustavo  Schwab — 

"  Hat  dieses  Buch,  das  cw'ge  "Walirlieit  ist, 
Ein  Itigenliafter  Gnostiker  geschrieben, 
So  hat  seit  tausend  Jahren  Jesus  Christ 
Den  Teiifel  durch  Beelzebub  vertrieben. "  ^ 

Are  we  to  believe  that  the  -wiiter  who  gave  its  suj^reme 
and  final  form  to  the  theology  of  the  New  Dispensation — 
who,  in  the  judgment  of  nineteen  Christian  centuries,  saw 
most  deeply  into  the  heart  of  the  Lord  Jesus,^  and  expressed 
most  perfectly  His  inmost  teaching, — the  writer  who,  more 
even  than  St.  Paul,  has  moulded  the  thoughts  of  all 
Christendom  in  its  conception  of  what  is  the  very  essence 

^  Lines  given  to,  and  quoted  by,  Dr.  SchafT.  The  interesting  and  not  im- 
probable legend  of  the  cu'cumstanoes  which  led  St.  Jolin  to  write  his  Gospel 
at  tlie  entreaty  of  the  Ephesian  elders  is  related  in  the  Muratoriau  fragment, 
ill  Victorinus  of  Pcttau  (Migne,  Patrol,  v.  333),  and  in  Jerome  {Com.  in 
MaU.  Prol). 

*  "  In  reading  St.  John's  writings  I  always  seem  as  if  I  saw  him  before  me 
at  the  Last  Supper,  leaning  on  his  Master's  breast." — Cr-Aunius. 


Outline  of  the  Gospel.  99 

of  Christian  trutli  —  was  a  man  who,  wliile  defiantly  re- 
constructing Christ  out  of  his  own  consciousness,  was  capable 
of  impudent  and  wicked  asseverations  that  he  was  bearing  a 
true  and  personal  witness  to  things  which  he  had  seen  and 
heard  ?  What  Christian  would  have  dared  to  fancy  that  the 
ideal  Christ  of  his  own  invention  Avas  to  be  preferred  to  the 
Son  of  Man  ?  Have  we  been  misled  by  the  phantom  of  a 
dreamer  ?  If  that  be  so,  then  the  Christian  who  has  built 
his  faith  and  his  hopes  on  teaching  which  he  believed  to  be 
that  of  St.  John,  the  bosom  friend  of  the  Lord,  will  be 
tempted  to  exclaim  in  despair  that — 

"  The  pillared  firmament  is  rottenness, 
And  earth's  base  built  on  stubble." 

Let  US,  then,  with  such  convictions,  take  the  Gospel  as  it 
is  and  consider  its  plan  and  outline ;  its  object ;  its  character- 
istics ;  and  its  relation  to  the  other  Gospels. 

I.  It  falls  at  once  into  two  divisions,  the  Prologue,  which 
contains  the  essence  of  all  that  the  Evangelist  intends  to  set 
forth,  and  the  Narrative,  in  which  the  truths  of  the  Prologue 
are  illustrated  and  proved. 

(1)  The  Prologue  occupies  not  only  the  first  five,  but  the 
first  eighteen  verses.  It  sets  forth  the  Word  of  God — that  is, 
Christ  the  Son  of  God — (a)  absolutely  as  pre-existent ;  as  in 
perfect  communion  with  God ;  as  being  God  ;  and  (h)  in  relation 
to  the  universe  as  its  source,  its  agent,  its  quickening ;  and  (c) 
in  relation  to  created  beings,  as  life  and  light.  Then  he  tells 
us  that  there  is  a  conflict  between  light  and  darkness  (5),  and 
that  John  bore  prophetic  witness  to  the  manifestation  of  the 
light  in  the  darkness  (6 — 8).  This  light  had  shone  even 
before  the  Incarnation  in  the  heart  of  every  man  (9),  but  had 
shone  unrecognised  (10).  When  it  was  more  fully  revealed 
at  the  Incarnation,  He,  the  Incarnate  Light,  was  rejected  by 
His  own  people  (11),  but  accepted  by  those  who,  in  receiving 
and  believing  on  Him,  became  by  a  new  and  divine  birth 
"children  of  God"  (12,  13).  The  reader  is  now  prepared  for 
the  consummate  declaration,  wdiich  contains  the  essence  of 

n  2 


100  The  GosjmIs. 

St,  John's  Gospel  and  of  all  Cliristianity,  that  the  Word 
became  Flesh ;  tabernacled  among  men ;  and  was  witnessed 
by  them,  as  being  full  of  grace  and  truth.  To  this  Incarnate 
Word  John  bore  the  witness  of  prophecy  (15);  believers 
experienced  His  full  grace  (16) ;  and  His  revelation  super- 
seded the  old  Law  (17),  for  it  is  the  only  vision  of  God  which 
is  possible  to  man  (18). 

II.  Having  in  this  Prologue  set  forth  with  unequalled 
depth  and  fulness  the  Eternal  Truths  which  it  is  the  object 
of  his  testimony  to  establish,  St.  John  passes  at  once  to  life 
and  to  history,  in  order  to  show  the  revelation  of  God  by  His 
Word  to  men. 

(2)  The  whole  subsequent  nan-ative  is  based  on  the  funda- 
mental antithesis  between  Faith  and  Unbelief,  between  the 
World  and  the  Disciples.  It  narrates  Christ's  Revelation  of 
Himself  to  the  World  (i.  19 — xii.  50),  and  His  Revelation  of 
Himself  to  His  Disciples  (xiii. — xxi). 

The  Revelation  to  the  World  is  divided  into  three  parts, 
(a)  the  Proclamation  (i.  19 — iv.  54);  (b)  the  Recognition 
(iii.  iv.) :  (c)  the  Antagonism  (v.  1 — xii.  50).^ 

A.  The  Proclamation  again  falls  into  two  divisions,  namely, 
(a)  the  Testimony  to  Christ  (i.  19— ii.  11),  and  (/3)  the  Work 
of  Christ  (ii.  13— iv.  54). 

a.  The  Testimony  to  Christ  is  threefold. 

(i.)  That  of  John  the  Baptist,  which  is  the  Testimony  of 
the  Old  Dispensation  in  its  closing  prophetic  utterance 
(i.  19—34). 

(ii.)  That  of  the  Disciples,  who  recognise  Him  (35 — 51). 

(iii.)  That  of  miracles,  which  St.  John  calls  "  Signs  "  and 
"Works"  (ii.  1—11). 

^  It  will  be  seen  that  I  have  heon  mainly  ^uiiled  by  Di'.  "Westcott  (St.  John 
vii.  and  passim),  Keim  (Jcsu  of  Nazara,  i.  15G-1C0),  and  Kouss  {La  ThCoJogie 
Johannique,  22-25),  in  their  view  of  the  divisions  into  which  the  Gospel  falls  : 
but  also  thnt  I  have  varied  from  them.  Godet's  outline  is  very  simple.  He 
divides  the  Prologue  into  three  parts — the  Word  (1-5)  ;  tlie  Word  rejected  by 
unbelief  (6-11)  ;  the  Word  accepted  by  faitli  (12-18) ;  and  he  thinks  that  tlie 
Gospel  has  three  corresponding  sections— the  Son  of  God  ;  Jewish  unbelief  ; 
Christian  faith — namely,  i.-iv. ;  v.-xii  ;  xiii-xvii.*  Then  follow  the  con- 
summation of  unbelief  (xviii.,  xix.)  and  of  faith  (xx.). 


Outline  of  the  Gospel.  101 

^.  The  initial  recognition  of  Clmst  is  threefold  :  (a)  by 
the  learned  Pharisee  (ii.  13 — iii.  86) ;  (/8)  by  the  ignorant 
and  heretical  Samaritans  (iv.  1 — 32) ;  (7)  by  the  Galilean 
courtier  (iv.  43 — 54). 

c.  But  the  opposition  soon  began,  and  it  runs  its  course  side 
by  side  with  works  ever  more  decisive,  and  testimony  ever  more 
and  more  emphatic.  In  Jerusalem  Jesus  heals  the  impotent 
man,  and  reveals  His  relation  to  God  (v.).  In  Galilee  He 
feeds  the  five  thousand,  and  reveals  in  anticipated  sacra- 
mental teaching,  His  relation  to  men  (v.).  In  Jerusalem,  at 
the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  He  holds  His  great  controversy 
with  the  wavering  multitudes  and  proclaims  Himself  as  the 
Light  of  the  World  (vii.  viii.) ;  at  the  Feast  of  Dedication  He 
heals  on  the  Sabbath  the  man  born  blind,  and  gives  to  the 
hostile  Pharisees  His  clear  testimony  to  Himself  as  the  Door 
and  the  Good  Shepherd,  and  as  one  with  the  Father;  He  is 
in  consequence  compelled  to  escape  to  Peraea  (ix.  x.). 

Then  comes  the  final  sign — the  Raising  of  Lazarus — and 
the  Revelation  of  Himself,  to  those  who  love  Him,  as  the 
Resurrection  and  the  Life.  But  the  sign  is  in  vain.  It  is 
followed  by  the  final  and  most  deadly  antagonism.  Jesus  is 
condemned  to  death,  and  conceals  Himself  in  the  little  town 
of  Ephraim  (xi.). 

The  twelfth  chapter  gives  us  three  closing  scenes  of  the 
public  ministry — the  Feast  at  Bethany  ;  the  triumphal  entry 
into  Jerusalem  ;  and  the  request  of  Greeks  to  see  Jesus,  His 
answer  to  the  request  is  followed  by  a  voice  from  heaven ;  by 
His  last  warning  to  the  Jews  to  walk  in  the  Light  while  they 
had  the  Light;  by  a  summary  (37 — 43)  in  which  the 
Evangelist  points  out  that  the  rejection  of  Christ's  ministry 
was  in  accordance  with  ancient  prophecy ;  and  by  another 
summary  (44 — 50)  in  which  Jesus  Himself  utters  His  judg- 
ment respecting  those  who  believe  and  those  who  do  not 
believe  on  Him,  and  Plis  emphatic  testimony  to  the  truth  of 
His  words,  as  being  the  commandment  of  the  Father  which  is 
life  eternal  (50). 


102  The  Gospels. 

III.  The  next  great  division  of  the  Gospel  shows  us  Christ 
among  His  own.  It  occupies  in  point  of  time  but  one  single 
evening.  The  period  of  conflict  and  antagonism  with  the 
multitude  and  with  their  leaders  is  practically  over.  Jesus 
has  been  rejected  by  the  world  ;  He  now  has  to  reveal  Him- 
self to  His  disciples  in  such  a  way  as  through  them — after 
they  have  been  endued  with  power  by  the  Holy  Ghost — to 
win  the  world  unto  Himself. 

It  falls  like  the  former  division  into  three  sections: — A.  the 
last  supreme  revelation  by  acts  of  humility  and  love.  B.  the 
last  discourses.  G.  the  prayer  of  consecration.  These  dis- 
courses have  been  called  The  Sermon  in  the  Chamber. 
"  The  Sermon  on  the  Mount  sets  forth  the  New  Law  of  Christ, 
the  Sermon  in  the  Chamber  vivifies  the  New  Law  with  the 
New  Spirit." 

A.  In  the  first  of  these  sections  the  Lord  washes  the 
Disciples'  feet,  and  separates  the  last  element  of  antagonism 
by  dismissing  the  traitor  into  the  night. 

B.  The  discourses  fall  into  two  groups — those  in  the  Upper 
Chamber  (xiii.  31 — xiv.  31) ;  and  those  on  the  way  (xv.  xvi). 
This  double  group  of  discourses  corresponds  to  the  double 
preamble.  The  former  discourses  mainly  arise  from  the 
questions  of  individual  Apostles,  and  deal  with  the  Lord's 
approaching  departure,  His  relation  to  the  Father  and  the 
Disciples,  and  the  promise  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  discourses 
on  the  way  dwell  on  the  living  union  with  Christ,  with  its 
issues  as  regards  the  Disciples  and  the  world ;  the  fuller 
promise  of  the  Paraclete  ;  and  the  promise  of  final  victory  and 
joy  (xv.  xvi.). 

G.  Then  follows  the  Great  High-Priestly  Praj^er — the 
Prayer  of  Consecration — in  which  the  Son  pours  forth  His 
heart  to  the  Father  (a)  for  Himself  (1—5);  (/3)  for 
His  Disciples  (6 — 19),  and  (7)  for  the  whole  Church 
(20—26). 

IV.  The  next  division  shows  us  "  the  (Unonemcnt  of  the 
two   relations   previously  established — the   double   supreme 


Outline  of  the  Gospel.  103 

pcripety  of  the  divine  tragedy."^  Jesus  has  revealed  Himself 
to  the  world,  and  the  world  has  rejected  Him.  He  succumbs 
to  that  opposition  and  remains  dead  to  unbelief  But  He 
triumphs  for  faith,  and  His  death  becomes  the  source  of  life. 
These  chapters  are  much  more  than  a  narrative.  Through 
the  narrative  they  set  forth  the  Person  and  the  Idea.  With 
the  history  they  suggest  the  interpretation  of  its  inner 
meaning.2  They  show  us  that  the  sufferings  of  the  Lord 
were  voluntary,  were  predetermined,  and  in  no  wise  obscured 
His  majesty.  The  narrative,  as  usual,  falls  into  three  sections 
— (i.)  the  Betrayal ;  (ii.)  the  Trial ;  (iii.)  the  End. 

V.  The  last  division  tells  us  of  the  victory  over  death, 
as  evinced  by  the  Resurrection,  and  believed  by  St.  John,  by 
the  Magdalene,  by  the  disciples,  by  Thomas,  and  by  many 
who  have  not  seen  and  yet  have  believed.  The  chapter  "  lays 
open  a  new  Life  in  Christ,  and  a  new  life  in  men."  This 
narrative  of  the  Resurrection  is  "  the  counterpart  and  com- 
jDlement  to  St.  John's  narrative  of  the  Passion.  His  history 
of  the  Passion  is  the  history  of  the  descent  of  selfishness  to 
apostasy  ;  his  history  of  the  Resurrection  is  the  history  of 
the  elevation  of  love  into  absolute  faith."  ^  The  exclamation 
of  Thomas,  "  My  Lord  and  my  God,"  shows  that  the 
Word  had  finished  His  work  by  winning  the  perfect  recog- 
nition of  Himself  as  being  that  which  the  prologue  had  set 
forth.^ 

VI.  The  last  chapter  is  obviously  an  appendix  or  epilogue. 
The  Gospel,  so  far  as  the  original  plan  of  the  Evangelist  is 
concerned,  clearly  terminates  with  xx.  31.  The  main  object 
of  St.  John  in  adding  this  chapter  apparently  was  to  correct 
an  error  which  had  gained  currency  respecting  himself.  In 
doing  so  the  Apostle  gives  us  an  exquisite  narrative  of  an 
appearance  of  Christ  to  some  of  His  disciples  by  the  Lake  of 

1  Eeiiss,  p.  26.  2  "Westcott,  p.  249.  ^  Wostcott,  p.  287. 

*  Reuss  {Hrilign  Scliriften,  i.  §  221)  summarily  divides  the  Gospel  as 
follows  : — 1.  Proiognc.  2.  First  Section  (i.  6-xii.).  Manifestation  in  the 
World,  -with  recapitulation  (xii.  37-50).  3.  Opposition  and  Acceptance 
(xiii.-xv.).     3.  History  of  the  Passion  (xviii.-xx.). 


104  The  Gosiids. 

Galilee,  in  which  He  teaches  them  by  a  living  allegory  that 
work  for  Him  is  work  which  is  always  blessed,  and  then 
indicates  the  future  duties  and  destinies  of  His  two  chief 
Apostles,  of  whom  tlie  one  is  to  feed  His  sheep  and  little 
lambs  {apvLo),  the  other  is  to  tarry  till  He  comes. 

The  Gospel  ends  with  two  verses  which  some  have  supposed 
to  be  an  attestation  of  the  Ephesian  elders  to  whom,  in 
accordance  with  a  very  probable  tradition,  the  Gospel  was 
originally  intrusted.  After  this  attestation  the  scribe,  or  the 
Apostle  himself,  explains  in  a  boldly  hyperbolical  expression 
the  reason  why  the  written  Gospel  was,  and  must  inevitably 
have  been,  of  a  fragmentary  character. 

2.  Such  is  the  Gospel  of  St.  John.  Of  its  object  happily  we 
need  not  have  a  moment's  doubt,  for  the  Apostle  distinctly 
foreshadows  it  in  his  prologue,  and  states  it  at  the  conclusion. 
He  admits  that  the  book  is  a  selection ;  that  Jesus  did  many 
other  signs  which  are  not  written  in  this  book  :  "  but  these," 
he  says,  "  are  written  that  ye  may  believe  that  Jesus  is  the 
Christ,  the  Son  of  God  ;  and  that  believing  ye  may  have  life 
in  His  name."  ^ 

This  statement  of  the  writer's  threefold  object  is  at  once 
terse  and  extraordinarily  comprehensive. 

i.  In  very  early  days  there  began  a  fatal  tendency  (as  we 
shall  see  hereafter)  "to  sever  Jesus,"  i.e.  of  the  two  natures  to 
make  two  persons ;  to  draw  a  distinction  between  the  human 
Jesus  and  the  eternal  Christ ;  to  represent  the  life  of  Jesus 
on  earth  as  purely  phantasmal;  to  say  tliat  the  Divine  nature 
only  united  itself  with  Him  at  His  baptism,  and  abandoned 
Him  at  the  Cross.^     It  was  St.  John's  object  to  testify  that 


*  Reuss  (ReiUgc  Schriftcn,  ii .  p.  222)  divides  the  sohome  of  St.  John's  system 
into  three  parts.  1.  Theological  premisses— God  and  the  Son.  2.  Historic 
premisses — The  Incarnate  Son  and  the  world.  3.  Mystic  theology — Faith 
and  Life  :  or  Light,  Love,  Life  as  corresponding  to  the  Being  of  God  ;  which 
the  world  lacks,  but  which  are  offered  by  the  Son  and  received  by  the  elect. 
Jolm  iii.  15  ;  1  John  iv.  9. 

*  See  the  remarks  of  Irenacus  about  Cerinthns  {TTaer.  i.  26),  and  the  note 
on  1  John  iii.,  iv.  3  infra,  and  for  further  information  see  Early  Days  of 
Christianity,  ii.  446-451. 


Object  of  the  Gospel.  105 

Jcsu8  was  indivisibly  and  distinctly  (aSiacperco'^,  davy-^^VTco';) 
the  Son  of  GocU 

ii.  But  it  was  his  object,  further,  to  connect  this  Revelation 
with  all  the  past.  Jesus,  the  Son  of  God,  vms  also  the  Christ, 
the  Jewish  Messiah.  Christianity  was  no  sudden  break,  no 
startling  discontinuity  in  the  course  of  God's  revelation. 
Christianity  did  not  dissever  itself  from  the  glorious  annals 
and  holy  foresh  ado  wings  of  Judaism.  To  St.  John  as  to 
St.  Matthew  the  old  dispensation  was  the  new  prefigured  ; 
the  new  dispensation  was  the  old  fulfilled. 

iii.  But  this  twofold  polemic  or  demonstrative  object  was 
subordinate  to  the  high  moral  and  religious  object.  If  St. 
John  wrote  to  show  that  the  present  was  the  consummation  of 
all  that  was  blessed,  and  the  universalisation  of  all  that  was 
narrow  in  the  past,  he  did  so  that  in  this  belief  wc  might 
have  life : — "  these  signs  have  been  written  that  ye  may  believe 
that  Jesus  is  (i.)  the  Christ,  (ii.)  the  Son  of  God,  and  that  (iii.) 
believing  ye  may  have  life  in  His  name."  God  who,  in  time 
past,  spake  fragmentarily  and  multifariously  in  the  prophets, 
hath  at  the  end  of  the  days  spoken  unto  us  iji  the  Son ;  and 
if  we  be  one  with  Him  as  He  is  thus  set  forth  we  shall  have 
life — true  life,  eternal  life.  The  thesis  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews,  and  the  central  conception  of  St.  Paul — which  was 
mystic  union  with  Christ  and  life  "  in  Christ " — are  in  these 
few  pregnant  words  united  with  the  Messianic  theme  of  the 
first  Evangelist,  St.  Matthew.  The  words  have  that  stamp  of 
supreme  finality  which  a  vaulting  criticism  would  vainly 
attribute  to  an  unknown,  second-century  Gnostic  forger,  but 
which  we  believe  to  have  been  the  consummate  glory  of  the 
bosom  Apostle. 

3.  The  characteristics  of  the  Gospel  are  very  clearly 
marked.     First   it   is    eminently    the    sjiiritual    Gospel,    the 

^  In  his  prologiie  St.  John  shadows  forth  the  outline  of  a  great  philosophy 
of  religion.  1.  The  contradiction  between  God  and  the  world,  with  tlie  Logos 
as  mediator.  2.  Tlie  coming  of  the  Logos  into  the  world  (but  never  fully 
recognised)  in  the  form  of  an  illuminating  revelation.  3.  The  Incarnation  of 
the  Logos.  4.  The  coming  of  the  Spirit,  as  the  highest  and  final  blessing. 
See  Keim,  pp.  148-153. 


106  The  Gospels. 

Gospel  of  Eternity,  the  Gospel  of  Love.  This  feature  ■was 
observed  in  the  earliest  days.  The  other  Gospels  were  called 
in  contradistinction  to  it  the  "  bodily  "  gospels.  The  Synoptists 
represent  the  objective  teaching  of  the  Apostles  (Acts  xi.  49) ; 
this  Gospel  represents  the  deeper  and  more  developed 
thoughts  of  St.  John.  The  fourth  Gospel  is  distinguished 
from  the  other  three,  in  that  it  is  shaped  with  a  conscious 
design  to  illustrate  and  establish  an  assumed  conclusion.  If 
we  compare  the  purpose  of  St.  John  with  that  of  St.  Luke 
(i.  1 — 4)  it  may  be  said  with  partial  truth  that  the  inspiring 
impulse  was  in  the  one  case  doctrinal,  and  in  the  other 
historical.  But  care  must  be  taken  not  to  exaggerate  or 
misinterpret  this  contrast.  Christian  history  is  doctrine,  and 
this  is  above  all  things  the  lesson  of  the  fourth  Gospel.  The 
Synoptic  narratives  are  implicit  dogmas,  no  less  truly  than 
St.  John's  dogmas  are  concrete  facts.  The  real  difiference  is 
that  the  earliest  Gospels  contained  the  fundamental  words 
and  facts  which  experience  afterwards  interpreted,  "while  the 
latest  Gospel  reviews  the  facts  in  the  light  of  their  inter- 
pretation." ^  It  is  only  in  this  sense  that  the  Gospel  can  be 
called  "a  theological  treatise,"  or  that  St.  John  can  be 
regarded  as  being,  in  a  technical  sense,  what  the  early  fathers 
called  him,  "  the  theologian,"  "  the  divine." 

These  views  tend  at  once  to  correct  and  to  absorb  the 
counter  theories  that  the  Gospel  was  didactic  ;  ^  or  supple- 
mentary ;  ^  or  polemical ;  *  or  an  Eii-enicon.  It  is  all  of  these 
in  its  effects,  but  none  of  these  in  exclusive  design.  It  is 
didactic  only  because  the  interpretation  lay  in  the  facts 
recorded.  It  is  supplemental,  and  even  avowedly  supple- 
mental, in  so  far  as  the  author  constantly  assumes  that 
certain  facts  are  already  in  the  knowledge  of  his  hearers,^ 

^  Wpstcott,  p.  xli. 

-  Jltiratorian  Fiagmont,  and  Clomont.  Alex.  ap.  Euscb.  IT.  E.  vi.  14. 

^  Clem.  Alex.  af.  Euscb.  H.  E.  iii.  2t.  *  Iron.  Haer.  iii.  11. 

*  i.  32,  46  ;  ii.  1  ;  iii.  24  ;  vi.  70  ;  vii.  3,  &c.  Hence  St.  John,  though  he 
speaks  at  such  length  of  the  Last  Supper,  docs  not  narrate  the  Institution  of 
the  Eucharist.  On  the  one  hand  that  was  universally  known  and  practised  ; 
ou  the  other  he  has  already  given  its  inmost  idea  in  ch.  vi. 


Characteristics  of  the  Gospel.  107 

and  adds  other  facts  out  of  the  abounding  specialty  of  his 
own  information ;  ^  bat  at  the  same  time  it  expressly  dis- 
claims all  intention  to  be  complete.^  The  object  of  the 
Evangelist  is  not  so  much  the  historic  record  of  facts  as  the 
development  of  their  inmost  meaning.  It  is  polemical,  since 
it  is  incidentally  a  correction  of  incipient  errors  by  the  state- 
ment of  truth.  It  is  an  Eirenicon  only  because  St.  John  had 
attained  to  the  apprehension  of  the  one  consummate  truth 
— "  the  Word  became  Flesh " — in  which  all  religious  con- 
troversies are  reconciled.  Every  truth  which  is  so  supreme 
and  final  in  character  is  the  synthesis  of  minor  oppositions.^ 
For  instance,  the  early  Church  was  profoundly  agitated  by  the 
question  about  the  Law ;  St.  John,  without  so  much  as  touch- 
ing on  the  question,  sets  it  aside  and  solves  it  for  ever  by  the 
one  sentence,  "  The  Law  was  given  by  Moses ;  grace  and  truth 
came  by  Jesus  Christ." 

4.  It  is  emphatically  and  preeminently  the  Gospel  of  the 
Incarnation.  Matthew  had  set  forth  Christ's  Messianic  func- 
tion ;  Mark  His  active  work ;  Luke  His  character  as  a 
Saviour;  St.  John  sets  forth  His  Person.*  Christ  fills  the 
whole  book,  and  absorbs  the  whole  life  of  the  drama  of 
which  He  is  the  centre.^  The  informing  idea  of  every  page 
and  chapter  is  "the  Word  made  flesh."  The  idea  of  the 
Logos,  as  Godet  says,  very  far  from  being  the  mother  of  the 
narrative  is  the  daughter  of  it.  The  title  of  Logos  is  not 
used  by  Christ  Himself  or  in  the  body  of  the  Gospel.  He 
is  nowhere,  like  the  Philonian  Logos,  a  vague,  changeful, 
bodiless  abstraction,  but  He  is  a  living  human  being.  St. 
John  sets  forth  to  us  that  there  is  no  vast  unspanned  abyss 
between   God  and  man,  but  that  God  became  man;   that 

1  See  ii.  23  ;  iv.  45 ;  x.  32  ;  xi.  2  ;  xii.  37,  &c.  For  many  special  points 
of  information  see  as  to  names  vi.  71  ;  xii.  1  ;  xiii.  26;  xviii.  10  ;  xix.  13,  &c. 
Fie  supplies  our  knowledge  of  the  first  cycle  of  the  teaching  of  Jesus,  His 
Judaean  ministry,  His  greatest  miracle. 

"^  XX.  30,  "many  other  signs  .  .  .  which  are  not  written  in  this  hooh."  It 
is  therefore  absurd  to  say  that,  if  any  point  is  omitted  it  is  disparaged. 

'  See  especially  Westcott,  xii.  xlii. 

*  Godet,  St.  John,  Introd.  ^  Keim. 


108  The  Gospels. 

tlicre  is  nothing  inherently  evil  in  the  bodily  nature  of  man, 
but  that  the  Word  became  Incarnate  Man.  Jesus  is  the  Son 
of  God,  and  yet  is  no  Docetic  phantom,  but  hungers  and  thirsts 
and  is  weary,  and  knows  human  anguish  and  human  joy.^ 
This  is  the  characteristic  which  led  Origen  to  speak  of  this 
Gospel  as  the  consummation  of  the  Gospels,  as  the  Gospels 
are  of  all  the  Scriptures ;  and  Luther  to  say  that  it  is  the 
unique,  the  tender,  the  true  master-Gospel,  which,  with  the 
Epistle  to  the  Romans  and  the  First  Epistle  of  St.  Peter 
made  up  a  New  Testament  sufficient  for  his  needs.  Yet  it 
is  entirely  untrue  to  assert  that  St.  John  represents  a  different 
Christ,  "  another  Jesus  "  than  the  Christ  of  the  Synoptists. 
The  scenery,  indeed,  in  which  He  is  placed  is  partly  different, 
and  the  form  and  time,  and  to  some  extent  the  substance 
of  His  teaching.  But  there  is  no  difference  as  regards 
His  Divinity,  and  the  Emperor  Julian  ^  was  totally  wrong 
when  he  said  that  "  John,  in  declaring  that  the  Word  was 
made  flesh,  had  done  all  the  mischief."  Christ  is  the 
same  Christ,  though  looked  at  from  a  different  point  of 
view;  and  (externally)  the  coincidences  in  the  twofold 
delineation  are  to  be  counted  by  scores.  They  are  coin- 
cidences in  place,  dates,  duration,  incident,  words,  doc- 
trines, imagery ;  and  they  have  been  pointed  out  again 
and  again.^  There  are  in  St.  John  no  scribes,  no  lepers,  no 
publicans,  no  demoniacs ;  there  is  little  or  nothing  which  can 
be  called  anecdotic.  This  is  accounted  for  by  the  avowed 
character  of  the  book,  which  also  explains  why  the  miracles 
are  here  narrated  in  the  light  of  symbolic  acts ;  not  as  por- 
tents (repaTo),  nor  as  exhibitions  of  power  (Bvvdfiei<;),  nor  as 
deeds  which  excited  wonder  (dav/xara),  nor  as  contrary  to 
expectation  (jrapdho^a),  but  as  "deeds"  (epya)  perfectly 
natural  to  the  Doer,  and  as  signs  (a-rjfieia)  of  His  power, 
and  manifestations  of  His  glory  (ix.  3,  xi.  4).     The  difference 

^  i.  18  ;  iii.  13 ;  x.  18  ;  xvii.  11,  &c.  ;  compared  with  iv.  6,  7  ;  xi.  38  ; 
xii.  27  ;  xv.  11  ;  xix.  28.  •  ap.  Cyril  c.  Julian. 

3  See  Schair,  History  of  the  Christicm  Church,  697  ;  Godet,  i.  197  ;  West- 
cott,  Ixxix.-lxxxiii. 


The  Representation  of  Christ.  109 

in  tlie  form  of  His  teaching  is  due  to  the  difference  of  cir- 
cumstances and  of  interlocutors.  That  teaching  is  given  not 
in  the  form  of  apophthegms,  or  parables,  or  eschatologies,  or 
even  (often)  of  continuous  discourses,  but  generally  in  the 
form  of  conversations,  which  are  perpetually  interrupted  by  the 
misunderstandings — always  unspiritual,  often  simple,  some- 
times almost  grotesque — of  those  who  heard  Him.i  The 
difference,  so  far  as  there  is  any,  in  the  substance  of  the 
teaching  arises  from  the  deeper  apprehension  of  St.  John. 
The  method  in  which  the  teaching  is  set  forth  of  course  reveals 
the  writer's  individuality,  but  it  has  been  repeatedly  shown 
that  the  teaching  itself  diverges  in  no  single  particular  from 
that  of  the  Synoptists.  St.  John  was  a  mystic,  and  delighted 
in  mystic  symbolism.  Hence,  while  he  does  not  narrate  a 
single  parable,  he  brings  out  another  side  of  the  doctrine  of 
Jesus,  parabolic  indeed  in  character,  but  less  easy  of  popular 
apprehension — namely,  the  allegoric.  In  the  allegoric  dis- 
courses about  bread  and  wine,  about  light,  the  door,  the 
gate,  the  vine,  the  shepherd,  St.  John  brings  out  in  a  different 
manner  the  same  essential  truths.  When  Keim  talks  of  St. 
John  as  "  going  over  to  Paulinism  with  drums  beating  and 
colours  flying,"  and  of  the  Jewish-Christian  Apostle  as 
"  having  broken  with  all  the  sacred  principles  of  his  youth, 
his  manhood,  and  his  ministry," — so  much  of  fact  as  corre- 
sponds to  this  violent  exaggeration  is  accounted  for  when  we 
remember  that  St.  John  wrote  latest  of  the  sacred  writers ; 
wrote  as  the  last  of  those  Apostles  whose  brows  had  reflected 
the  lambent  gleams  of  Pentecost ;  wrote  as  the  bosom-  disciple 
who  had  enjoyed  a  most  intimate  communion  with  his  Lord. 
When  he  penned  his  Gospel  a  flood  of  light  had  been  cast  on  the 
truths  of  the  New  Covenant  by  the  full  absorption  of  Gentile 
Christians  into  the  Church,  by  the  development  of  Christian 
thought,  by  the  antagonism  of  anti-Christian  error,  above  all 


^  See  Rciiss,  p.  8.  Tliis  feature  recurs  no  less  tlian  twcnt3'-fiye  times  (ii.  20  ; 
iii.  4,  9  ;  iv.  11,  15,  33  ;  vi.  28,  31,  34,  52  ;  vii.  27,  35 ;  viii.  19,  22,  33,  39, 
41,  52,  57  ;  ix.  40  ;  xi,  12  ;  xiv.  5,  8,  22  ;  xvi.  29). 


no  The  Gospels. 

ST.  jouN,  by  the  Destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  that  Second  Coming  of 
Christ  to  close  for  ever  the  Old  Dispensation^  Many  of  tlie 
same  essential  doctrines  are  common  to  the  Apocalypse  and 
the  Gospel,  and  if  there  be  also  a  deep  difference  between 
them  it  is  a  difference  due  to  the  lapse  of  twenty  years 
marked  by  events  of  unparalleled  importance,  and  by  a  reli- 
gious development  rich  and  rapid  beyond  that  of  any  other 
epoch  in  the  history  of  the  world. 

5.  It  is  the  Gospel  of  Witness. 

In  accordance  with  the  symbolic  character  of  the  book  we 
find  throughout  it — as  has  been  so  admirably  shown  by  Canon 
Westcott  ^ — a  sevenfold  witness  to  Christ. 

i.  The  Witness  of  the  Father  (v.  84,  37,  viii.  18). 

ii.  The  Witness  of  the  Son  (viii.  14,  xviii.  37). 

iii.  The  Witness  of  His  works  (x.  25,  v.  36  &c.). 

iv.  The  Witness  of  Scripture  (v.  39—46). 

V.  The  Witness  of  the  Forerunner  (i.  7,  v.  35). 

vi.  The  Witness  of  the  Disciples  (xv.  27,  xix.  35). 

vii.  The  Witness  of  the  Sj^irit  (xv.  26,  xvi.  14). 

6.  It  is  the  Gc  spel  of  "the  Logos,"  2  of  Christ  the  Word 
of  God. 

The  profound  insight — let  us  say  rather  the  spiritual  illu- 
mination—  which  led  the  Evangelist  to  use  this  title 
fur  Jesus  Christ  the  Son  of  God  has  been  recognised  in  all 
ages.  In  the  use  of  it  St.  John  stands  alone.  Other  Apostles 
seem,  as  it  were,  to  hover  on  the  verge  of  it,  but  they  do  not 
definitely  adopt  it,  still  less  do  they  dwell  prominently  upon  it. 
Whether  St.  John  borrowed  it  from  the  Logos  of  Philo,^  or 

^  "Westcott,  I.  c.  xlv. 

-  Wlien  Epiphanius  sa3's  that  the  Gospel  was  rejected  by  the  Alogi,  he  pro- 
hal)ly  means  to  imply  by  paronomasia  that  the  sects  which  rejected  it  and  the 
doctrine  of  tlie  Logos  were  "withont  reason."     (Comp.  Iren.  Uacr.  iii.  11.) 

3  Some  of  rhilo's  strongest  and  most  remarkable  expressions  about  the 
Logos  are  as  follows,  lie  calls  the  Logos  "the  second  God"  {Dc  profiig.,  De 
Monast.  0pp.  ii.  225);  "the  archetype  of  the  visible  world;"  tlie  ideal 
unity  of  all  things;  the  "idea  of  ideas  ;  "  "the  image  of  God,  by  whose 
means  the  whole  universe  was  created;"  "the  bond  of  all  things;"  the 
manna  ;  the  source  of  life  and  holiness  ;  "  the  soul  of  the  world."  Sea 
Gfrorer,  Philo,  i.  176-243;  Siegfried,  Philo,  219-228. 


"The  Word"  111 

from  the  Memra  or  Debura  of  the  Jewish  schools  (afterwards 
used  in  the  Targums),  his  adaptation  of  it  infused  into  the  title 
a  majesty  and  a  depth  of  meaning  which  were  absolutely- 
original.  In  Philo  the  Logos  is,  at  the  best,  a  dim  abstrac- 
tion in  whose  wavering  outlines  it  is  impossible  to  affirm  that 
any  absolute  hypostasis  is  meant.  In  the  Jewish  schools  the 
use  of  Memra  and  Debura  (meaning  "  the  word  ")  was  due  to 
the  desire  to  soften  the  simple  anthropomorphic  and  anthro- 
popathic  phrases  of  the  Old  Testament  —  phrases  which 
attributed  to  God  human  parts  and  human  passions.  Thus 
both  in  Philo  and  in  the  Eabbis  the  object  was  to  make  God 
seem  more  distant  rather  than  more  near ;  to  interpose  lower 
agencies  between  Him  and  the  material  world ;  to  bridge 
by  imaginary  conceptions  the  infinite  chasm  which  seemed 
to  separate  the  Divine  from- all  created  things.  The  object 
of  St.  John  was  the  very  reverse.  It  was  to  show  that 
God  had  come  down  to  man  in  order  that  man  might  arise 
to  God.  The  Manichean  dread  of  all  matter  as  essentially 
evil,  the  Agnostic  desire  to  regard  God  as  unspeakably  remote 
and  incomj)rehensible,  were  fundamentally  overthrown  by  the 
immortal  utterance  that  "the  Word  became  flesh."  To  make 
such  a  use  of  the  title  "  the  Word  "  was  to  slay  those  con- 
ceptions which  lay  at  the  heart  of  Alexandrian  theosophy 
and  of  Jewish  scholasticism  with  an  arrow  winged  with 
feathers  from  their  own  nests.  It  was  to  adopt  their  most 
cherished  watchwords  in  order  to  substitute  for  their  favourite 
idols  an  eternal  truth. 

And  this  being  the  case  the  title  Logos  receives  all  the 
fulness  of  its  meaning.  It  means  all  that  the  Rabbis  implied 
by  the  Shechinah  and  the  Metatron,  and  the  Targumists  by 
Memra  and  Debura.  It  means  both  uttered  reason  and 
immanent  speech,  both  the  spoken  word  {Xoyo'i  7rpo(f)optK6<i) 
and  the  inner  thought  (\6yo<;  evhLd6ero<i)  of  the  Stoics  and  of 
Philo.  It  means  all  that  is  included  in  the  Latin  words  used 
by  different  Fathers  and  translators  to  express  it —  Verhum, 
Scrmo,  Batio.     It  means   alike  (as  in  tlie  famous  lines  of 


112  The  Gospels. 

Goethe),  "  das  Wort,"  " der  Sinn,"  "die  Kraft,"  "die  That" 
the  Word,  the  Thought,  the  Power,  the  Act.  It  fixes  and,  so 
to  speak,  crystallises  all  that  had  heen  said  in  the  Sapiential 
books  of  the  Old  Testament  and  the  Apocrypha  about  the 
Word,  the  Angel  of  the  Presence,  and  the  Wisdom  of  God,  as 
well  as  all  the  speculations  of  Gentile,  Rabbinical,  and 
Alexandrian  philosophy.  At  the  same  time  it  supersedes 
and  transcends  all  those  dim  approximations  to  half-appre- 
hended truths.  It  infuses  into  them  a  life  which  raises  them 
into  a  loftier  sphere  of  being.  More  epoch-making  words — 
words  which  more  express  the  inmost  meaning  of  all  revela- 
tion in  all  ages — were  never  written  than  the  four  words  of 
this  Gospel, "  The  Word  became  flesh,"  which  modern  writers 
are  content  to  assign  to  an  unknown  forger  of  the  second 
century.^ 

7.  It  is  the  Gospel  of  symbolism ;  and  mystic  numbers 
prevail  even  throughout  the  arrangement  of  the  topics. 

"The  clothing  of  the  book  is  Greek,  but  the  body  is 
Hebrew."  2  The  arrangement  of  the  book  is  throughout 
constructed  with  direct  reference  to  the  sacred  numbers 
three  and  seven.  Almost  all  the  sub-sections  run  in  trip- 
lets. "  Jesus  is  thrice  in  Galilee,  thrice  in  Judea,  twice  three 
feasts  take  place  during  His  ministry,  and  particularly  three 
Passover  feasts — in  the  beginning,  the  middle,  the  end — 
which  either  foretell  or  procure  His  death.  He  works  three 
miracles  in  Galilee  and  three  in  Jerusalem.  Twice  three 
da3'^s  is  He  in  the  neighbourhood  of  John ;  three  days  are 
covered  by  the  narrative  of  Lazarus,  and  six  by  the  fatal 
Passover.  He  utters  three  sayings  on  the  Cross,  and  appears 
thrice  after  His  Resurrection."  ^ 

*  See  Early  Days  of  Christianity,  i.  273-276. 

2  Godet,  p.  20.  See  too  Kc-im,  p.  157.  Of  all  the  Greek  connecting  par- 
ticles St.  John  only  uses  Se,  kolI,  ouv,  ws,  and  kolOws.  Godet  strangely  says  that 
he  only  uses  ^s"  once  ;  but  it  occurs  only  eight  times. 

*  Unless  the  walking  on  the  sea  be  regarded  as  a  part  of  the  great  scenic 
mii-acle  of  the  loaves,  tiicre  are  scjven  miracles  (at  Cana  ;  the  nobleman's  son  ; 
the  paralytic  ;  the  loaves  ;  walking  on  the  sea  ;  the  man  born  blind  ;  Lazai'us), 
toguther  with  the  draught  of  fishes  in  tlie  supplenieutary  chapter  (xxi.). 
Keim's  triplets  reiiuire  to  be  carefully  criticised. 


Glory  of  the  Gospel.  113 

The  grouping  round  the  three  Passovers  is  part  of  St.  st.  joun. 
John's  original  plan  (ii.  18,  vi.  4,  xi.  55).  And  it  can  hardly 
be  an  accident  that  Christ  utters  seven  times  "  I  am,"  and 
so  reveals  Himself  as  the  Bread  of  Life,  the  Light  of  the 
World,  the  Door  of  the  Sheep,  the  Good  Shepherd,  the 
Resurrection  and  the  Life,  the  Way,  and  the  True  Vine. 

In  reading  the  Gospel  and  First  Epistle  of  St.  John  we 
are  reading  the  last  words  of  special  revelation;  we  catch, 
as  it  were,  the  final  whisper  of  the  voice  of  Christ  as  it  was 
echoed  in  the  heart  of  the  disciple  whom  He  loved.  And 
the  tone  of  the  speaker's  mind  is  worthy  of  the  charm  which 
we  find  in  its  accents.  "  Here  we  have  rest  and  harmony — 
peace,  joy,  and  blessedness  such  as  the  Christian  seeks  for ; 
and  though  struggle  is  not  wanting,  varied  and  intense — heat 
want,  trouble,  zeal,  anger,  irony — yet  the  struggling  Christ 
is  a  part  of  the  Christian  life  which  seeks  to  find  expression 
in  him;  and  Christ's  finale,  at  the  parting  supper,  on  the 
cross,  after  the  resurrection,  is  peace,  victory,  glory."  ^ 
^  Keim,  p.  159. 


114  The  Gospels. 


NOTE  I. 

SrECIAL  WORDS   AND    niRASES   IN   ST.  JOHN's   GOSPEL. 

Oil  the  style  of  St.  John,  see  infra.  He  has  been  called  "a 
master  of  lucid  obscurity,"  ^  and  the  remark,  though  meant  as  a  sneer, 
is  a  happy  one.  His  style  is  pre-eminently  lucid  ;  his  thoughts  are 
somewhat  obscure.  Their  spirituality  and  profundity  make  them 
"  dark  with  excess  of  light."  We  find  both  in  the  Gospel  and  the 
Epistle  the  same  "emphatic  remoteness,"  the  repeated  words,  the 
simple  constructions,  the  positive  and  negative  statements  (i.  7,  8,  20  ; 
iii.  15,  17,  20,  &c.)  of  the  same  truth." 

We  see  in  the  Gospel,  as  in  the  Epistle,  the  ideality  v.'hich  regards  all 
subjects  in  the  light  of  their  absolute  antitheses  : — "  Light  and  darkness, 
God  and  the  world,  heaven  and  earth,  spirit  and  flesh,  life  and  death, 
truth  and  error,  love  and  hatred,  eternal  and  transitory,  Christ  and 
Satan,  the  Church  and  the  world,  present  Christianity  attaining  to 
victory  through  contest."  ' 

It  is  obviously  an  undesigned  coincidence — an  unconscious  trace  of 
personality — that  the  Evangelist  speaks  of  the  Baptist  as  "  John  "  with- 
out adding  his  title,  as  the  other  Evangelists  do.  An  interesting  sign  of 
the  later  date  at  which  he  wrote  is  that  he  alone  speaks  of  the  Sea  of 
Galilee  as  the  Sea  of  Tiberias  (vi.  1  ;  xxi.  1).  Thirty  years  earlier, 
when  the  other  Evangelists  wrote,  Herod's  new  town  of  Tiberias  had 
not  yet  succeeded  in  giving  its  name  to  the  lake,  and  superseding  its 
older  designation. 

It  is  a  very  remarkable  fact  that  every  one  of  St.  John's  peculiar 
phrases  and  expressions  is  found  also  in  his  reports  of  the  teaching  of 
our  Lord.* 

It  has  been  often  made  a  serious  difficulty  that  the  style  remains 
essentially  the  same  alike  in  the  discourses  of  John  the  Baptist,  of  our 
Lord,  and  of  the  Evangelist  himself.  Much  has  been  written  on  this 
subject,  but  no  further  explanation  can  be  given  than  that  the  writer 

^  Strauss,  who  compares  him  to  Correggio. 

2  There  is  not  in  St.  John  (taking  the  best  text)  a  single  optative,  or  a  single 
instance  of  ohlique  narration.  "  La  langue  de  I'evangeliste  n'a  pas  d'analogue 
dans  tonte  la  litterature  profane  on  .sacree  ;  simplicity  enfantine  et  transparente 
profondeur,  sainte  melancolie  et  vivaciti^  non  moms  sainte :  par  dessus  tout, 
suavite  d'un  amour  \mY  et  doux." — Godet. 

*  Davidson,  Inirod.  ii.  348. 

■*  See  an  interesting  note  in  Iluidekopcr's  Indirect  Tcitimony  of  History  to 
the  Gospr.lt,  pp.  93-102. 


Phraseology  of  St.  John.  115 

was  intensely  influenced,  and,  if  the  expression  be  allowed,  magnetised  sx.  John. 
by  what  he  had  heard  from  the  lips  of  Jesus  as  it  was  reflected  in  his 
own  subjectivity.  Though  the  style  diff"ers,  even  opponents  of  the 
genuineness  of  the  Gospel  admit  the  close  and  constant  identity  of  the 
teaching  of  our  Lord  as  represented  by  the  Synoptists  and  by  St.  John. 
Every  reader  may  verify  this  fact  for  himself  again  and  again.^ 

Words  which  specifically  mark  St.  John's  tone  of  thought  are — 

'■'■  Saying '"  (Trapot/xi'a  4  times,  Xo'yor  many  times).  He  does  not  use 
"parable"  once. 

"  To  gaze  upon"  {Geapfiv).  This  occurs  23  times,  and  only  15  times 
in  all  the  three  Synoptists. 

"TAe  Light"  (i.  4,5,  7-9,  &c.,  23  times;  '' Glonj,"  20  times). 
"  Glorify"  22  times. 

"  Darkness"  9  times. 

"  The  Truth,"  25  times. 

" Love"  6  times.     "  To  love"  12  times. 

"  The  World"  78  times  (only  15  times  in  the  Synoptists), 

"  Flesh"  8  times. 

" Eternal  Life"  15  times. 

"  To  abide  in"  18  times. 

"  To  manifest"  8  times. 

"  To  judge"  19  times  ;  "judgment"  11  times. 

"  To  believe"  98  times  ;  twice  as  often  as  all  tlie  Synoptists. 

"  The  last  day"  7  times. 

"  Witness"  47  times. 

"  To  hioiv"  55  times 

"  Works"  23  times. 

" Name"  25  times. 

'■'■Signs"  17  times. 

Thus  the  vocabulary  is  certainly  poor.  John  uses  fewer  words  than 
any  one  of  the  Synoptists,  very  far  fewer  than  St.  Luke,  but  "these 
expressions  soon  make  amends  to  the  reader  for  their  small  number  by 
their  intrinsic  wealth."  They  are  few  in  number,  but  divine  in  quality. 
They  deal  with  celestial  glories. 

>  See  Reuss,  Heilige  Schriften,  ii.  p.  224. 


I  2 


ST.  JOHN. 


IIG  The  Gospels. 


NOTE  II. 

THE   MURATORIAN   FRAGMENT. 

Corrected  and  conjectiirally  emended  the  passage  in  this  ancient  frag- 
ment on  tlie  canon  seems  to  mean,  "  The  fourth  book  of  tlie  Gospels,  John, 
one  of  the  disciples  (wrote).  On  being  exhorted  by  his  fel  low-disciples  and 
bishops,  he  said,  '  Fast  with  me  to-day  for  three  days,  and  let  us  mutually 
relate  what  shall  have  been  revealed  to  each.'  That  same  night  it  was 
revealed  to  Andrew,  one  of  the  Apostles,  that  John  should  set  forth  all 
things  in  his  own  name,  while  all  revised.  Hence,  though  various 
points  of  importance  are  taught  in  separate  Gospels,  it  still  makes  no 
difference  to  the  faith  of  believers,  since  all  tilings  about  the  Nativity, 
Passion,  Resurrection,  intercourse  with  His  Disciples,  and  about  His 
twofold  coming,  fii'st  in  the  humility  of  contempt,  which  has  been,  then 
glorious  in  royal  power,  which  is  to  be,  have  been  set  f(jrth  in  them 
all  by  one  supreme  Spirit.  .  .  .  What  wonder  is  it  then  if  John  so 
consistently  brings  forth  each  point  also  in  his  Epistles,  saying  about 
himself,  '  ^Vliat  we  have  seen  with  our  eyes,  and  heard  with  our  ears, 
and  our  hands  have  handled,  tliose  things  we  have  written.'  For  thus 
he  proclaims  himself  not  only  an  eye-witness,  but  a  hearer  too,  and 
also  a  writer  of  all  the  wonderful  thinfrs  of  the  Lord  in  order." 


NOTE   III. 

EXTERNAL  EVIDENCE. 

It  would  be  absurd  hereto  enter  into  evidence  which  it  would  require 
a  whole  volume  of  controversy  to  sift  and  establish,  but  it  may,  I  think, 
be  most  fairly  asserted  that  tlie  admission  of  the  weight  of  external 
evidence  is  gaining  ground.  The  practical  certainty  that  the  Gospel 
was  incorporated  in  Tatian's  Diatessaron  has  now  been  established  by 
the  commentary  of  Ephraem  Syrus.^  Even  Keim,  though  he  rejects  the 
genuineness  of  the  Gospel,  has  made  the  important  admission  that  "  the 
actual  indication  of  its  existence  extends  about  as  far  back  as  those  of 

^  Hence  Roiian's  assertion  that  by  Aid  rfffcrdpuv  Tatian  meant  "  perfect 
accord,"  and  that  he  borrowed  the  phrase  from  Greek  music  {L'Eglisc  Chritienne, 
p.  503)  falls  to  the  ground. 


Genuineness.  117 

Llie  other  Gospels"  {Jesu  of  Nazara,  Eng.  Trans.,  i.  187),  and  allows  st.  .tohn. 
that  it  was  known  to  Justin  Martyr,  and  even  to  the  Pseudo-Barnabas, 
and  that  Hermas  was  acquainted  with  the  first  Epistle.  Bishop  Light- 
foot  (see  quotations  from  his  unfinished  work  in  Plummer's  St.  John, 
p.  19)  shows  that  allusions  to  it  are  found  even  in  the  shorter  Greek  forms 
of  the  Ignatian  Epistles.  The  first  Epistle  (and,  therefore,  probably 
the  Gospel)  was  known  to  Hermas  and  to  Polycarp.  "When  such  a 
writer  a3  Keim  rejects  the  attempts  of  the  Tubingen  school  to  bring 
down  its  date  till  after  the  middle  of  the  second  century,  and  places  it 
as  far  back  as  a.d.  100-117,  the  weight  of  the  external  evidence  can 
hardly  any  longer  be  questioned,  and  the  immense  force  of  the  internal 
evidence,  added  to  the  impossibility  of  finding  or  imagining  a  forger, 
will  be  duly  felt.  Among  the  most  recent  and  powerful  contributions 
to  the  arguments  in  favour  of  the  Gospel  are  the  Commentaries  of  Canon 
Westcott,  and  the  chapters  inWeiss's  Life  of  Christ  (v.-vii.). 


THE   ACTS   OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

WRITTEN    PROBABLY  AT   ROME   BEFORE   A.D.    61. 


"The  best  evidences  for  the  truth  of  the  Gospel  are  Christianity  and 
Christendom." 

"  Multitudinis  credcntmm  erat  cor  unum  et  anima  una.  Quand  on  a  ecrit 
cela  on  est  de  ceiix  qui  ont  lance  au  coeur  de  I'humanite  I'aiguillon  qui  ne 
laisse  plus  dormir  jusqu'a  ce  qu'on  ait  ddcouvert  ce  qu'on  a  vu  en  songe  et 
touche  ce  qu'on  a  reve." — Renan. 

"  Dieses  Buch  wohl  mochte  heissen  eine  Glosse  ixb^r  die  Episteln  St.  Pauli." 
— Luther  Vorrcdc. 


THEAPO.STLES. 


' '  So  mightily  grew  the  word  of  God  and  prevailed." — Acts  xix.  20. 

The  preciousness  of  a  book  may  sometimes  best  be  esti-  the  acts  of 
mated  if  we  consider  the  loss  which  we  should  experience 
if  we  did  not  possess  it.  If  so,  we  can  hardly  value  too 
highly  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  Had  it  not  come  down  to 
us  there  would  have  been  a  blank  in  our  knowledge  which 
scarcely  anything  could  have  filled  up.  The  origin  of  Chris- 
tianity would  have  been  an  insoluble  enigma.  We  should 
have  possessed  no  materials  out  of  w^hich  it  could  be  con- 
structed, except,  on  the  one  hand,  a  few  scattered  remnants 
of  ecclesiastical  tradition,  and  on  the  other  hand  shameless 
misrepresentations,  like  the  pseudo-Clementine  forgeries.  We 
might  then  have  had  no  escape  from  wild  conjectures,  such 
as  may  be  found  in  the  later  writings  of  the  followers  of  Baur, 
who  represent  Paul  and  James  as  irreconcilable  enemies,  and 
consider   that   the   Epistle   of    St.    Jude  and   parts   of  the 


122  The  Acts  of  the  Aimstles. 

THKACTsoF  Apocalypse  of  St,  John  were  envenomed  attacks  of  Jewish 
iHE  APOSTLES.  Christians  on  the  authority  and  character  of  the  Apostle  of 
the  Gentiles.  It  is  only  from  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  that 
we  are  enabled  to  understand  that  union  between  Judaism 
and  Christianity,  for  Avhich,  as  has  been  said,  it  would  other- 
wise have  been  as  impossible  to  account  as  for  a  junction  of 
the  waters  of  the  Jordnn  and  the  Tiber.  To  very  few  since 
the  world  began  has  it  been  granted  to  render  two  services 
so  immense  as  those  which  have  been  rendered  by  St.  Luke 
in  his  Gospel  and  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.-^  In  the  one  he 
has  given  us  the  most  exquisite  and  perfect  sketch  of  the 
Saviour  of  Mankind  ;  in  the  other  he  has  enabled  us  to 
watch  the  dawn  of  the  Gospel  which  the  Saviour  preached 
as  it  broadens  gradually  into  the  boundless  day.  In  his 
earher  work  St.  Luke  had  many  predecessors,  and  his  task 
was  to  sift  the  materials  which  they  presented,  and  to  com- 
bine them  with  all  that  he  had  been  able  to  learn  by  personal 
inquiry.  In  his  second  work  he  was  at  once  an  historian  and 
in  great  measure  an  eye-witness,  and  he  took  no  small  part 
in  the  events  which  he  narrates.  We  have  in  the  Acts  a 
picture  of  the  origins  of  Christianity  drawn  by  one  who  was 
himself  a  leading  actor  in  the  early  evangelisation  of  the 
world.  Quiet,  retiring,  unobtrusive,  the  beloved  physician 
has  yet  so  used  for  us  his  sacred  gifts  of  calm  observation, 
of  clear  expression,  of  large-hearted  catholicity,  of  intelligent 
research,  that  he  has  won  for  himself  a  conspicuous  place 
among  the  benefactors  of  mankind. 

Let  us  first  look  at  his  treatise  as  a  wdiole,  and  then 
endeavour  to  grasp  its  special  peculiarities. 

We  see  at  the  first  glance  that  it  falls  into  two  great  sec- 
tions, of  which  the  first  (i. — xii.)  is  mainly  occupied  with  the 
doings  of  St.  Peter,  and  the  second  (xiii. — xxviii.)  is  exclusively 
devoted  to  the  missions  and  sufferings  of  St.  Paul ;  or,  dividing 

'  Eusebius,  H.  E.  in.  25  ;  reckons  the  Acts  among  the  Homologouinciui. 
Tlie  extraordinary  fact  that  in  St.  Chrysostom's  day  there  were  many  who 
were  unaware  of  its  existence  (Horn,  i.;  was  verluajis  due  to  its  liaviiig  been 
addi'essed  to  one  person. 


Outline  of  the  Acts.  123 

it  on  another  principle,  we  may  say  that  the  first  section  (i. —  the  acts  of 
ix.  30)  records  the  establishment  of  the  Church  in  Palestine/^^  ^^^^^^^^ 
and  the  second  (ix.  31 — xxviii.  31)  its  extension  as  far  as  Rome. 

The  first  fourteen  verses  are  introductory.  They  describe 
the  final  intervicAv  of  the  risen  Lord  with  the  disciples,  and 
they  give  fuller  details  of  His  Ascension  than  were  known  to 
—  or,  at  any  rate,  were  recorded  by — the  Evangelist  when  he 
wrote  his  earlier  volume.  Here  alone  wo  learn  that  forty 
days  elapsed  between  the  Resurrection  and  the  Ascension. 
The  Gospel  was  a  narrative  of  all  that  Jesus  began  both  to  do 
and  to  teach  as  the  inauguration  of  His  kingdom.  The  Acts 
furnishes  the  continuation  of  that  beginning.  Prominent  in 
those  last  words  of  Christ  are  "the  promise  of  the  Father" 
and  "  the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  The  eighth  verse 
might  stand  as  the  motto  of  the  whole  book,  "  Ye  shall 
receive  power  when  the  Holy  Ghost  is  come  upon  you ;  and 
ye  shall  be  my  witnesses  both  in  Jerusalem,  and  in  all  Judea, 
and  Samaria,  and  unto  the  uttermost  part  of  the  earth."  The 
first  section  of  the  book  narrates  the  fulfilment  of  the  earlier 
part  of  this  promise ;  the  later  sections  show  its  complete 
accomplishment. 

In  the  meeting  of  the  Ajjostles  with  the  discij^les  and  the 
holy  women  in  the  upper  chamber  where  they  were  abiding 
we  see  the  cradle  of  the  infant  Church.  That  upper  chamber 
belonged  in  all  probability  to  the  mother  of  St.  Mark  the 
Evangelist.     If  so  it  must  have  been  within  those  hallowed  -^ 

walls  that  Jesus  had  partaken  with  His  disciples  of  the  Last 
Supper  ;  and  they  were  destined  to  be  shaken  not  many  days 
after  when,  at  the  Descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  suddenly  there 
came  from  heaven  a  sound  as  of  the  rushing  of  a  mighty 
wind.  The  first  act  of  the  little  community  was  to  select, 
partly  by  lot,  a  new  Apostle  in  place  of  the  traitor  Judas. 
Even  in  the  brief  notice  of  these  earliest  meetings,  we  learn 
three  facts  of  the  deepest  interest.  One,  that  the  disciples  were 
only  120  in  number;  a  second,  that  even  then  the  beginning 
of  a  new  epoch  was  indicated  by  the  presence  among  them  of 


THE  APOSTLES. 


124  The  Acts  of  the  Aj)ostles. 

THE  ACTS  OF  MoTy  tliG  motliet  of  Jesus  aud  other  women,  not  separated 
from  them  as  in  the  seclusion  of  the  synagogue,  but  in  the 
midst  of  them  as  in  the  worship  of  the  church ;  the  third,  that 
the  brethren  of  the  Lord,  who  hitlierto  had  been  at  the  best 
but  partial  believers,  had  by  this  time  been  fully  convinced 
by  the  Resurrection,  and  from  henceforth  cast  in  their  lot, 
no  longer  with  the  world — which  therefore  from  thenceforth 
hated  them — but  Avith  the  obscure  and  persecuted  followers 
of  the  Nazarene,  the  Crucified. 

The  next  chapter  explains  all  that  follow  by  telling  us  of 
the  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit  at  Pentecost,  and  of  the 
instantaneous  results  in  the  conversion  of  3,000  souls  after 
the  first  Apostolic  sermon.  It  also  gives  us  a  glimpse  of  the 
sweet  and  simple  lives  of  the  first  believers  in  Jerusalem, 
and  their  interesting  experiment  of  communism  which,  as 
experience  soon  proves,  is  neither  possible  nor  desirable  in 
tlic  existing  conditions  of  the  world  (i.). 

The  next  two  chapters  narrate  the  cure  of  the  lame  man, 
which  was  the  first  Apostolic  miracle  ;  the  death  of  Ananias 
and  Sapphira;  and  the  beginnings  of  persecution  which 
resulted  from  the  many  conversions  caused  by  the  first  Apos- 
tolic sermon,  the  preaching,  and  the  miracles  of  Peter.  We 
see  the  spread  of  the  Gospel  in  Jerusalem,  and  the  antagonism 
— at  once  perplexed  and  futile — of  the  Jewish  Sanhedrin, 
which  was  checked  partly  by  divine  interpositions  and  partly 
by  the  wise  counsel  of  the  Rabbi  Gamaliel,  who  herein 
proved  himself  a  worthy  descendant  of  his  grandfather,  the 
noble  and  gentle  Hillel  (iii. — v.). 

The  next  two  chapters  narrate  the  election  of  deacons;  the 
widening  of  the  sympathies  of  the  Church  by  the  preaching 
of  the  Hellenists ;  and  the  career,  trial,  and  defence  of  the 
first  martyr,  St.  Stephen,  the  precursor  of  St.  Paul.  It  was 
in   all   probability   from   St.  Paul — who,  as    a  Sanhedrist,^ 

^  St.  Paul  must  have  been  a  SanhcJrist  (and  therefore  married)  if  we  take 
literally  the  words  of  Acts  xxvi.  10,  "when  they  were  being  put  to  death,  I 
gave  my  vole  against  them"  (dfaipoujutVwi/ t«  avruv  Kar-rjvfyKa  \\/r}(pov). 


Outline  of  the  Acts.  125 

must  Lave  been  present  at  the  trial  of  St.  Stephen,  and  who,  the  acts  of 
as   we   can   trace  in  his  Epistles,  had  been  deeply,  though  ^°^^^^^^^^'*' 
at    the    time  unconsciously,   influenced  by  his  words — that 
St.  Luke  derived  the  outlines  of  that  noble  speech  in  which 
the    protomartyr   furnishes   us   with   the  first   sketch   of   a 
philosophy  of  Jewish  history  (vi.  vii.). 

The  next  chapter  tells  us  of  the  first  great  persecution  which 
proved  that  the  blood  of  martyrs  is  the  seed  of  the  Church.^ 
The  scattering  of  the  Christians  of  Jerusalem  led  directly  to 
the  conversion  of  Samaria  by  the  labours  of  Philip  the 
Evangelist.  In  this  chapter  also — which  is  essentially  a 
chapter  of  memorable  beginnings — we  are  told  of  the  first  , 
confirmation ;  the  first  instances  of  heresy  and  simony  in  the 
person   of    Simon    Magus ;  and   the   first  baptised  ^ilfintile  ^ 

.  converi,    the    eunuch    chamberlain    of    Candace,    queen    of 
Ethiopia. 

The  ninth  chapter  narrates  the  event  which  was  to  have 
supremest  importance  for  the  whole  future  of  Christianity — 
the  conversion  of  St.  Paul.  It  tells  us  of  his  work  at  Damascus 
(after  his  Arabian  retirement) ;  his  escape  from  a  plot  of  the  ^ 

Jews  ;  his  introduction  by  Barnabas  to  the  naturally  reluctant 
and  suspicious  Church  of  Jerusalem ;  his  second  escape  from 
a  plot  of  the  Hellenists ;  and  his  retirement  to  Tarsus. 

Meanwhile,  during  the  divine  education  of  this  hero  of  faith 
for  his  great  work  as  the  Apostle  of  the  Uncircumcision,  St. 
Peter,  in  accordance  with  his  Lord's  promise,  was  intrusted 
with  the  glorious  privilege  of  admitting  uncircumcised  Gentiles, 
not  only  to  baptism,  but  t^  the  full  and  unfettered  participa-  7 

tibn  in  all  Jewish  and  Christian  privileges.  After  the 
miracles  which  Peter  was  permitted  to  work  at  Lydda  and 
Joppa,  he  had  that  memorable  vision  on  the  roof  at  JopjDa, 
which  first  fully  revealed  to  him  the  universality  of  the  Gospel, 
and  the  abrogation  of  all  the  jealous  and  exclusive  preroga- 
tives of  Jewish  particularism.  He  had  the  courage  to  act 
up  to  the  enlightenment  which  he  had  thus  received.  He 
'  "Semen  est  sanguis  Christianorum,"  Tert.  A2^ol.  50. 


THE  APOSTLES. 


126  The  Acts  of  the  A2J0Stks. 

ruE  ACTS  OF  faced,  and  for  a  time  allayed,  the  storm  of  jealous  indignation 
which  the  act  of  eating  with  uncircumcised  Gentiles  had 
roused  in  the  breasts  of  the  Circumcisionists,  whose  narrow- 
ness would  have  made  of  Jewish  institutions  not  only  the 
bands  in  which  Christianity  was  to  be  nursed,  but  also  cords 
whereby  it  should  be  strangled  (ix.  32 — xi.  18), 

At  tlie  close  of  the  eleventh  chapter  are  brief  sections  of 
the  utmost  importance.  One  of  these  (xi.  19 — 21)  records  no 
less  an  event  than  the  practical  transference  of  the  capital  of 
Christianity  from  Jerusalem  to  Antioch.  It  shows  that  the 
conversion  of  the  Gentiles  had  now  passed  beyond  the  region 
of  timid  initiatives.  Hitherto  the  scattered  members  of  the 
Church  of  Jerusalem  had  only  ventured  in  Cyprus  and 
Phoenice  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  Jews.  At  Antioch,  en- 
couraged probably  by  what  they  had  heard  of  the  conversions 
of  the  eunuch  and  of  Cornelius,  the  wandering  missionaries 
preached  boldly  to  the  Gentiles,  and  their  words  were  crowned 
with  a  success  Avhich  was  their  completest  justification,  proving 
as  it  did  that  their  work  was  blessed  by  God. 

The  next  paragraph  (22 — 2G)  tells  us  how  the  Elders  of 
Jerusalem,  alarmed  by  the  free  admission  of  Gentiles  into  the 
Church,  sent  Barnabas  to  Antioch  to  see  what  was  going  on,  and 
to  report  to  them.  The  choice  of  such  an  emissary  was  a  very 
happy  one.  A  narrow  ecclesiast  would  in  that  day,  humanly 
speaking,  have  ruined  the  destinies  of  the  infant  Church. 
The  large-heartedness  of  Barnabas  tended  to  counteract  the 
Pharisaism  of  the  more  bigoted  Judaists.  His  position  as  a 
Levite  and  a  man  of  wealth,  who  had  so  wholly  thrown  in 
his  lot  with  the  brethren  as  to  sell  his  estate  for  their  support, 
gave  him  a  deserved  intluence.  He  had  already  shown  his 
magnanimous  breadth  of  insight  by  taking  Paul  by  the  hand 
and  introducing  him  to  the  Apostles  and  the  Elders;  he 
now  showed  it  still  more  consisicuously  by  two  memorable 
acts.  He  gave  his  entire  approval  to  the  work  among  the 
Gentiles  at  Antioch,  and  feeling  the  need  of  some  one  who 
would  be  adequate  to  help  him,  he  made  a  journey  to  Tarsus, 


Neiv  Developments.  127 

and  summoned  from  liis  retirement  the  man  whose  thoughts  the  acts  of 
were  thenceforward  to  shake  the  w^orld.  The  gradual  growth  the  apostles. 
of  the  Church,  the  grandeur  of  its  ever-broadening  and 
brightening  horizon,  and  its  destined  emancipation  from  the 
yoke  of  Mosaism,  were  illustrated  by  the  fact  that  at  Antioch 
the  brethren  first  received  their  new  and  distinctive  name  of 
"  Christians,"  That  cosmopolitan  name — which  clothed  a 
Hebrew  conception  in  a  Greek  word  ended  by  a  Latin  termi- 
nation— though  first  given  in  scorn,  was  soon  accepted  with 
triumph.  At  first  it  was  almost  synonymous  with  malefactor 
and  was  everywhere  spoken  against,  first  with  ridicule,  then 
with  angry  scorn,  at  last  with  furious  execration ;  and  yet  it  was 
destined  to  hold  its  own  against  all  the  forces  of  philosophy 
and  of  empire  until  the  lords  of  the  nation  were  proud  to 
claim  it,  and  it  became  the  ideal  term  for  all  that  is  great  and 
good  and  wise  in  the  nature  and  faith  of  man.  At  first  the 
bold  profession  Ghristianus  sum  was  the  answer  to  the  yells  of 
Christianos  ad  lco7ics.  But  four  centuries  had  not  elapsed 
when  it  became  the  murmur  of  the  courtier  and  the  hypocrite 
as  well  as  the  confession  of  the  persecuted  saint. 

The  last  paragraph  of  this  chapter  (27-30)  gives  us  a 
glimpse  of  Christian  prophets,  and  in  the  subscription  raised 
by  the  Antiochene  Christians  on  behalf  of  their  brethren 
who  were  suffering  from  the  famine  in  Jerusalem,  it  shows  us 
how  the  Gentiles  began  to  repay  by  material  services  the 
spiritual  benefits  which  they  had  received  from  the  Jews. 
Side  by  side  with  the  work  of  the  Church  pastoral,  and  the 
Church  militant,  and  the  Church  evangelistic,  we  have  here 
our  first  developed  specimen  of  that  Christian  sympathy 
shown  by  almsgiving,  which  has  henceforth  continued  to  be 
so  conspicuous  a  part  of  the  work  of  the  Church  beneficent. 

In  the  twelfth  chapter  we  see  Christianity  for  the  first 
time  in  antagonism  with  kings.  Our  Lord  had  promised  the 
two  sons  of  Zebedee  that  they  should  drink  of  His  cup  and 
be  baptised  with  His  baptism.  In  this  chapter  we  read  how 
James,  the  elder  of  them,  became  the  first  apostolic  martyr. 


128  The  Acts  of  the  Apostles. 

THE  ACTS  OF  Wg  sitQ  told  also  of  the  imprisonment  and  deliverance  of 
TUB  APOSTLES.  g(;_  Peter,  and  of  the  agonising  death  of  the  first  royal  per- 
secutor (xii.).  Herod  Agrippa  I.  thus  furnished  the  earliest 
instance  of  the  mortes  persecutorum,  and  experienced  the 
truth  of  the  prophecy,  "  He  that  falleth  on  this  stone  shall  be 
broken  to  j)ieces ;  but  on  whomsoever  it  shall  fall  it  will 
scatter  him  as  dust." 

II.  From  this  point  forward  the  narrative  is  mainly 
occupied  with  the  work  of  St.  Paul, 

The  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  chapters  narrate  the  first 
mission-journey  of  Paul  and  Barnabas.  They  detail  their 
successes  among  Gentiles  and  their  persecution  by  Jews  in 
Cyprus,  at  the  Pisidian  Antioch,  at  Iconium,  Lystra,  and 
Dcrbe,  and  their  happy  return  to  the  Syrian  Antioch  from 
this  first  eagle-flight  of  the  mission  spirit  to  preach  an 
eternal  Gospel.^ 

The  fifteenth  chapter,  in  a  conciliatory  naiTative.,  tells  us  of 
the  liberal  comj)roniise  or  concordat  which  for  a  time  restored 
peace  to  the  agitated  partisans  of  Jewish  and  Gentile 
Christianity  after  the  first  Church  synod.  In  this  synod  the 
genius  of  Paul,  the  gentle  dignity  of  Barnabas,  and  the  daring 
impetuosity  of  Peter  so  completely  won  over  the  hesitations 
of  St.  John  and  of  St.  James,  the  Lord's  brother,  that  the 
-  Gentiles  were  set   free   by  direct  and  unanimous  apostolic 

authority,  from  the  necessity  for  circumcision  and  from 
the  crushing  and  now  useless  burdens  of  the  Levitic  law 
(xv.  1—35). 

Soon  afterwards  St.  Paul,  in  spite  of  his  unhappy  quaiTel 
»  with  Barnabas,  started  with  Silas  for  his  second  great  mis- 

sionary journey.  He  passed  through  Syria  and  Cilicia,  and 
then,  taking  with  him  from  Derbe  the  young  Timotheus, 
traversed  Phrygia,  Galatia,  and  Mysia  till  they  arrived  at 
Troas.  At  that  point,  immediately  after  the  vision  which 
determined  the  great  missionary  to  carry  the  Gospel  for  the 
first  time  into  Europe,  there  begins  that  use  of  the  pronoun 
1  Rev.  xiv.  6 


Outline  of  the  Acts.  129 

"we"  (xvi.  10),  which  shows  that  at  Troas  St.  Luke  joined  the  acts  of 
the  travellers.  We  then  follow  the  fortunes  of  St.  Paul,  re-  ^'he  apostles. 
joicing  in  his  successes,  and  filled  with  admiration  for  the 
indomitable  courage  and  endurance  with  which  he  braved  all 
perils  and  difficulties  as  he  founded  church  after  church  in 
Philij^pi,  in  Thessalonica,  in  Berea,  in  Athens,  in  Corinth, 
and  in  Ephesus,  until  he  once  more  pays  a  brief  visit  to 
Jerusalem  (xv.  8G — xviii.  22). 

After  a  short  stay  at  Antioch  he  began  his  third  missionary 
journey.  Revisiting  Galatia  and  Phrygia  he  came  to  Ephesus. 
In  that  great  city  he  stayed  for  nearly  three  years.  After 
he  had  worked  with  eminent  success,  his  departure  was  pre- 
cipitated by  a  riot  of  interested  partisans.  He  then  went 
through  Macedonia  to  Corinth,  and  after  spending  three 
months  there  made  his  way  overland  (to  escape  a  Jewish  plot 
for  his  assassination)  to  Philippi.  Thence  he  proceeded  to 
Troas  and  Miletus ;  and  thence  to  Tyre,  Ptolemais,  Caesarea, 
and  Jerusalem  (xviii.  23 — xxi.  17).  This  interesting  journey, 
so  full  of  touching  incidents,  is  narrated  with  the  graphic 
details  which  mark  an  eye-witness.  St.  Luke  seems  to  have 
rejoined  his  friend  at  Troas  (xx.  5),  and  was  henceforth  his 
constant  companion. 

At  Jerusalem,  following  the  unfortunate  counsel  of  James 
and  the  other  elders  to  take  part  in  a  Nazarite  vow,  he 
became  entangled  in  a  fierce  tumult  of  bigoted  Jews,  and, 
after  a  powerful  speech,  was  nearly  torn  to  pieces  by  them. 
Rescued  by  Lysias ;  tried  before^the  Sanhedrin  ;  escaping  by  a  ^ 

ruse  which  he  afterwards  seems  to  have  regretted ;  ^  again 
rescued,  despatched  to  Caesarea,  and  there  imprisoned,  he 
was  tried  before  Felix,  before  Festus,  and  before  Agrippa,  and 
appealing  to  Caesar  was  sent  as  prisoner  to  Rome,  where  he 
arrived  after  a  long  and  stormy  voyage  culminating  in  a 
shipwreck  at  Malta.  This  disastrous  voyage  is  minutely 
described  in  what  is  evidently  an  extract  from  the  diary  of 

^  Acts  xxiv.  21.  His  respite  was  due  to  the  latent  animosities  wliich  ho 
roused  among  Ms  accusers. 

K 


130  The  Acts  of  the  Ajwstlcs. 

THE  ACTS  OF  St.  Luke,  who  was  his  companion  during  all  those  weary 
lUE APOSTLES,  j-j^onths  of  imprisonment,  peril,  and  adventure  (xxi.  18  — 
xxvii.  44). 

After  a  stay  of  three  months  in  Malta  he  was  taken  on  to 
Rome,  and  there  handed  over  by  the  centurion  Julius  to 
Burrus,  the  Praetorian  Praefect.  After  three  days  he  called 
the  Jews  together  to  state  his  case  and  to  preach  to  them 
the  Gospel.  Some  of  them  believed,  but  the  hostility  of  the 
majority  was  so  evident  that  in  stern  words  of  rebuke  St.  Paul 
warns  them  that  thenceforth  the  salvation  of  God  was  sent, 
unto  the  Gentiles,  and  that  they  would  hear  it. 

At  Rome  he  was  allowed  to  live  in  his  own  hired  house, 
and  there  he  stayed  two  years,  receiving  all  that  came  to  him 
and  preaching  to  them  with  all  confidence,  unimpeded. 

In  that  one  word — dK(o\vT(o<; — a  cadence  evidently  chosen 
for  its  emphatic  weight,  which  is  expressive  of  motion  suc- 
ceeded by  rest,  of  action  settled  in  repose  ^ — the  genial,  and  skil- 
ful writer  who  has  thus  far  accompanied  us  suddenly  drops  the 
curtain.  It  is  impossible  to  explain  why  he  ends  his  sketch 
of  the  Apostle  at  that  period.  Did  he  do  so  deliberately  or 
accidentally  ?  Did  he  carry  down  his  narrative  to  the  period 
at  which  he  first  wrote  his  book  ?  Did  some  remarkable 
change  in  the  prisoner's  condition  take  place  at  the  close  of 
those  two  first  years  in  Rome  ?  Did  St.  Luke  intend  in  yet 
another  book  to  say  what  more  he  knew  respecting  St.  Paul 
and  other  Apostles  and  Evangelists ;  and  was  he  prevented 
from  writing  such  a  book  by  the  Neronian  persecution,  or  by 
want  of  leisure,  or  by  death  ?  These  questions  can  never  be 
answered.  All  that  can  be  said  is  that  after  the  fire  of  Rome 
and  the  outbreak  of  the  persecution  v/hich  resulted  from  the 
false  accusation  of  the  Christians,  the  whole  condition  of 
Christianity  was  for  a  time  profoundly  altered.  To  write  a 
book  about  the  progress  of  Christianity  while  yet  it  was  a 
religio  licita,  and  under  the  great  protecting  wings   of  the 

'  Acts  xxviii.  31  ;  tlie  word  is  an  epitrite  (^ ).  See  Bisliop  "Words- 
worth's note  on  this  verse. 


Sudden  Close  of  the  Acts.  131 

Roman  eagle,  was  a  very  different  thing  from  writing  a  book  the  acts  of 

in  Avhich  the  author  could  only  have  dwelt  with  horror  on™^^^*^^^^^^- 

the   cruel   atrocities  of   Roman  imperialism.      During  that 

spasm    of  violence,    when   every  Christian,  merely  because 

he  was  a  Christian,  was  liable  to  arrest  and  death,  the  only 

kind  of  treatise  which  could  circulate  without  the  danger  of 

involving   a   whole  community  in  indiscriminate  ruin  if  it 

were  denounced  by  an  informer,  or  given  up  by  some  weak 

traditor,  was  some  cryptograph,  unintelligible  to  the  heathen, 

like  the  Apocalypse  of  St.  John.     Even  a  few  lines  more, 

were  it  only  to  tell  us  that  St.  Paul  was  liberated  before  the 

blood  of  martyrs  began  to  flow  like  water  in   the  world's 

capital,  would  have  been  most  valuable  to  us  and  would  have 

saved  the  necessity  for  endless  discussions.    That  they  should 

never  have  been  written  is  for  us  an  irreparable  loss.     But  a 

thousand  circumstances — the  intention  to  compose  a  third 

book  in  better  and  safer  times,  or  even  his  own  death — may 

have  made  it  impossible  for  Luke  to  write  them.    Meanwhile 

by  leaving  off  at  this  point  he  has  given  to  his  whole  purpose 

a  magnificent  unity ;  he  has  exactly  fulfilled  the  object  which 

he  had  in  view  ;  he  has  shown  us  how,  in  a  space  of  thirty 

years,  the  Gospel  reached  to  the  far  West ;  ^  how  it  was  made 

known  to  the  Samaritans,  to  the  Greeks,  to  the  Asiatics,  to 

the  Romans  ;  how  the  sceptre  of  righteousness  was  transferred 

from  the  hands  of  the  Jew  to  those  of  the  Gentile  ;  how  the 

centre   of  gravity  of  the   Christian   Church  as  an  outward 

organisation  was  shifted  from  Jerusalem  to  Antioch,  from 

Antioch  to  Rome. 

Let  us   now  consider  some  of  the  chief  features  of  this 
invaluable  and  deeply-interesting  book. 

1.  The  title,  "Acts  of  the  Apostles,"  does  not  come  from 

^  The  ioviv  i^olnts  de  rcpere  for  the  chronology  of  the  Acts  are  xi.  23  ;  xii. 
23  ;  xviii,  2  ;  xxiv^.  27. 

The  Famine  in  t]ie  Days  of  Claudius,  A.D.  i\,  45. 

The  Death  of  Agrippa  I.  A.D.  44. 

The  Decree  for  the  Expulsion  of  Jews  from  Rome,  a.d.  49, 

The  Recall  of  FelLx,  a.d.  60. 

K   2 


132  The  Acts  of  the  A2)ostles. 

THE  ACTS  OF  the  author,  and  is  misleading.  He  probably  called  his  book 
THEAP0STLE8.  ^^  ^|^g  ^^^^  coHimon  title  of  "  Acts  "  only.i  The  Apostles  in 
general  are  only  mentioned  once.  St.  John  only  appears  on 
three  occasions  in  an  entirely  silent  and  subordinate  capacity. 
Of  St.  James  the  elder  we  learn  nothing  except  his  martyrdom. 
On  the  other  hand,  non-Apostles,  like  Stephen,  Philip,  and 
Barnabas,  are  prominent.  It  is  clear,  therefore,  that  the 
record  is  essentially  fragmentary.  Although  so  much  of  the 
book  is  devoted  to  St.  Paul  it  tells  us  but  a  tithe  of  his 
manifold  adventures.  That  portion  of  the  Acts  which 
narrates  St,  Paul's  mission-labours  has  been  called  "the 
Christian  Odyssey,"  but  it  is  an  Odyssey  at  once  imperfect 
and  discontinuous.  Not  one  of  St.  Paul's  five  scourgings  with 
Jewish  thongs,  one  only  of  his  three  beatings  with  Roman 
rods,  not  one  of  the  three  shij^wrecks  which  preceded  the  one 
so  elaborately  recorded,  are  mentioned  by  St.  Luke.  He  tells 
us  nothing  of  that  day  and  night  in  the  deep.  He  mentions 
two  only  of  seven  imprisonments.^  There  are  even  whole 
classes  of  the  Apostle's  perils  and  hardshijDs — j^erils  of  rivers, 
perils  of  robbers,  perils  in  the  wilderness,  perils  among  false 
brethren,  and  miseries  of  hunger,  thirst,  fasting,  nakedness, 
of  which  St.  Luke  says  nothing.  He  does  not  so  much  as 
allude  to  the  fact  that  St.  Paul  wrote  a  single  letter.  He 
never  even  gives  the  name  of  so  beloved,  faithful,  and  able  a 
companion  of  St.  Paul  as  Titus.  Of  the  council  of  Jerusalem 
he  gives  us  but  a  partial  conception.  It  is  clear  that  the 
Acts  does  not  pretend  to  be  a  complete  history.  Its  omission 
of  events  and  circumstances  can  be  largely  supplemented  by 
the  information  furnished  in  the  Epistles  to  the  Corinthians, 
Romans,  and  Galatians,  in  the  Pastoral  Epistles,  in  the  first 
Epistle  of  St.  Peter,  and  in  the  earlier  chapters  of  the 
Apocalypse.  It  is  only  by  combining  these  with  what 
St.  Luke  tells  us  that  we  can  form  any  adequate  conception 
of  all  that  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  was  and  did. 
,^//  1  Tliere  were  "Acts  of  Pilate:"  "Acts  of  Philip;"  "Acts  of  Paul  and 

*  'EiTTaKts  Sefffict  (boptaas.     Clem.  Rom.  Fp.  ad  Cor.  5. 


The  First  Church  History.  133 

2.  But  though  thus  fragmentary  it  is  a  book  of  the  highest  the  acts  of 
importance.  St.  Luke  is  writing  with  a  special  purpose  and  ^"^'^^°^'^'^^^' 
is  selecting  materials  on  which  he  could  rely.     In  spite  of  its 

marked  lacunae  his  book  is  more  valuable  than  if  it  had  been 
constructed  out  of  looser  elements.  As  it  is  St.  Luke  only 
narrates  that  which  suits  his  immediate  object,  and  which  he 
knew  by  eye-witness  or  from  trustworthy  sources.-^ 

3.  The  "  Acts "  is  the  earliest  sketch  of  Church  history. 
It  is,  as  we  have  seen,  a  book  of  origins.  It  tells  us  of  the 
first  apostolic  miracle ;  the  first  apostolic  sermon ;  the  first 
beginnings  of  ecclesiastical  organisation ;  the  first  persecution  ; 
the  first  martyr;  the  first  Gentile  convert;  the  first  ecclesiastical 
synod  ;  the  first  mission  journey  ;  the  first  European  Church,         ^ 

4.  It  is  also  an  Eirenicon,  a  "  tendency-writing,"  a  book 
with  an  object.  It  sets  forth  the  exquisite  ideal  for  which 
the  writer  yearned — simplicity,  holy  gladness,  entire  unselfish- 
ness, a  cheerful  activity,  unanimity  of  heart  and  soul.^  This 
has  been  urged  to  its  discredit.^  The  fact  that  it  exhibits  a 
mediating  tendency  has  been  supposed  to  diminish  its  credi- 
bility. There  is  not  the  least  reason  why  St.  Luke  should  be 
less  trustworthy  because  of  his  desire  to  be  catholic.  Let  it  be 
granted  that  he  wished  to  prove  that  there  was  no  irreconcil- 
able opposition  between  St.  Paul  and  the  Twelve,  between  the 
Churches  of  Antioch  and  Jerusalem,  between  Jewish  and 
Gentile  Christians.  Let  it  be  granted  that  the  allusion  to  the 
synod  of  Jerusalem  in  the  Ej)istle  to  the  Galatians  gives  a 
glimpse  of  severer  struggles  and  keener  heart-burnings  than 
we  might  have  divined  from  the  narrative  of  St.  Luke. 
Let  it  be  assumed  that  subjective  and  artificial  considerations 
played  their  part  in  the  selection  and  arrangement  of  the 
narratives  which  are  here  brought  together.      These  conces- 

^  The  "we  sections  "  are  xvi.  10-xvii.  1  (St.  Luke  seems  to  have  been  left 
at  Philippi,  and  St.  Paul  found  him  there  again  seven  years  later),  xx.  5,  to 
the  end.  St.  Luke  was  with  St.  Paul  during  his  Caesarean  and  both  his 
Roman  imprisonments. 

2  See  Acts  ii.  44-47  ;  iv.  32,  &c. 

'  Especially  by  Baur,  Schwegler,  Zcller,  and  the  Tiibingen  critics  in  general. 
See  Hilgenfeld  Einleitung,  575. 


Kit  The  Acts  of  the  Apostlcj. 

THE  ACTS  OF  sioDS  ill  110  wisG  detract  from  the  credit  due  to  St.  Luke  as  a 
riii.Ai'osTLEs.  ggmjJQQ  historian.  They  only  show  that  he  was  too  earnest 
to  be  a  sceptic  or  a  neutral.  His  bias,  if  bias  it  were,  was  a 
truly  noble  one.  Ileal  history  can  never  be  written  by  those 
who  look  with  philosophic  indifference  on  the  great  passions 
Avhich  it  brings  into  play,  nor  is  truth  the  less  truth  because 
it  can  and  indeed  must  be  regarded  under  different  aspects 
by  different  minds.  St.  Luke  has  misrepresented  nothing. 
There  were  divisions  of  opinion  in  the  Apostolic  Church  as 
there  always  have  been  in  all  religious  communities  ;  St.  Luke 
has  nob  concealed  the  existence  of  those  conflicting  views. 
But  under  this  partial  divergence  there  was  an  essential  and 
fundamental  unity.  To  the  beautiful  spirit  of  the  historian 
this  unity  appeared  to  be  more  real  as  well  as  more  important 
than  the  suj)erficial  disagreement,  just  as  the  ocean  is  more 
important  than  the  ripples  upon  its  surface.  He  wished  to 
show  us  the  movement  of  the  great  universal  tide,  not  the 
advance  or  recession  of  this  or  that  individual  wave.  It  is 
to  his  glory  and  not  to  his  discredit  that  his  sympathies  were 
so  large  as  to  dwell  rather  on  the  reconcilement  of  brethren 
than  on  the  disunion  of  schools  of  thought.  There  must 
always  be  a  difference  between  the  impressions  left  by  the 
same  events  upon  different  minds,  but  there  is  not  a  single 
event  which  St.  Luke  narrates  which  can  be  shown  to  be 
inconsistent  with  the  evidences  derived  from  other  sources. 

5.  And  we  are  happily  able  to  declare  without  any  qualifica- 
tion that  St.  Luke,  in  every  instance  where  we  can  absolutely 
test  his  assertions,  triumphantly  establishes  his  claim  to  be 
regarded  as  a  conscientious  and  accurate  historian. 

a.  He  can  be  tested  in  numerous  points  of  minute  allusion. 
He  certainly  wrote  the  Acts  without  any  intentional  refer- 
ence to  any  of  the  Epistles ;  and  yet  in  scores  of  circum- 
stances there  are  coincidences  between  the  Acts  and  St.  Paul's 
letters  of  the  subtlest  character  and  wholly  undesigned.  No 
one  can  read  even  Paley's  Hoow  Paulincc — which  now  could 
be  greatly  enlarged — without  seeing  at  once  that  any  writer 


Minute  Accuracy.  135 


who  was  not  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  facts  which  he  the  acts  of 

details  would  have  fallen  into  multitudes  of  contradictions  ^"''"^^°^^^^^' 

and    discrepancies   in   dealing   with    events   so   complicated 

as  the  incessant  journeys  and  troubles   of  St.   Paul.     This 

evidence  of  genuineness  is  the  more  convincing  because  (as 

we  have  seen)  St.  Luke  not  only  does  not  use  any  single 

Ei3istle,  but  does  not  mention  the  fact  that  St.  Paul  ever 

wrote  an  Epistle  at  all.      And  yet  St.  Luke  not  only  agrees 

with  the   indications  given  by  the  Apostle  in  an  immense 

number  of  small  particulars,   but   can  be   proved  to  do  so 

even  when  there  might  seem,  at  first  sight,  to   be  obvious 

contradiction.     The  proof  of  his  credibility,  which  is  founded 

on   these   undesigned  coincidences,    is    at  once  striking  and 

beyond  the  reach  of  dispute. 

/3.  But  further  than  this,  St.  Luke  touches  on  many  points 
of  secular  history,  and  geography,  and  archaeology,  and 
biography.  We  can  test  him  again  and  again  from  the  most 
unsusj)ected  sources.^  He  introduces  sketches  of  historical 
personages,  both  Jews  and  Gentiles,  of  whom  comparatively 
little  is  known — of  Jews,  like  Gamaliel  and  the  High  Priest 
Ananias;  of  Idumeans,  like  Herod  Agrippa  I.,  Agrippa  11. , 
Bernice,  and  Drusilla ;  of  Romans,  like  Felix,  the  brother  of 
Pallas,  Festus,  Gallio  the  brother  of  Seneca,  and  Sergius 
Paulus  2 — and  in  each  instance  his  sketch,  incidental  as  it  is, 
has  been  confirmed  by  all  that  we  can  learn  from  non-Christian 
sources.  He  mentions  strange  and  obscure  titles,  like  the 
Protos  of  Malta,  the  Recorder,  and  the  Asiarchs  at  Ephesus, 
the  local  Praetors  at  Philippi,  and  the  Politarchs  of  Tliessa- 
lonica ;  and  his  accuracy  is  proved  by  rare  coins  and  broken 
inscriptions.  He  speaks  of  a  Proconsul  of  Cyprus,  of  Asia, 
and  of  Achaia,  and  his  correctness,  though  challenged,  has 
been  absolutely  established.  He  tells  us  of  the  famine  in 
the  days  of  Claudius  ;  of  the  popularity-hunting  policy,  and 

1  There  is  an  unsolved  difficulty  about  Theudas  (v.  36)  Lut  St.  Luke  is  at 
least  as  likely  to  be  accurate  as  Josephus  who  contradicts  him. 

-  Even  the  name  of  this  Cyprian  Proconsul  has  been  discovered  in  au 
inscription  at  Soli  by  General  Cesnola. 


13G  The  Acts  of  the  Ajmstks. 

THE  ACTS  OF  sudJcii  (Icatli  of  Agrippa  I. ;  of  the  cosmopolitan  insouciance 
THE  APOSTLES.  Qf  Agvippa  II.  ;  of  the  cultured  disdain  exhibited  by  Gallio  ; 
of  the  Italian  Band  at  Caesarea  ;  of  the  decree  for  the  expul- 
sion of  the  Jews  from  Rome ;  of  Candace,  Queen  of  Meroe ; 
of  the  sale  of  purple  at  Thyatira ;  of  the  dialect  of  Lycaonia ; 
of  the  traces  left  by  the  local  legends  of  Baucis  and  Philemon ; 
of  the  survival  of  the  old  cult  of  Zeus  and  Hermes ;  of  the 
silver  aediculae,  which  formed  a  staple  trade  of  Ephesus ;  of 
the  famous  Ephesian  amulets  and  books  of  magic;  of  the 
colonial  privileges  of  Philippi;  of  many  details  of  ancient 
navigation  ;  of  the  modes  of  dealing  with  Roman  prisoners ; 
of  the  inviolable  rights  of  the  Roman  citizen.  In  all  these 
minute  facts,  as  well  as  in  many  others,  extending  even  to 
the  description  of  Fair  Havens  and  Lasaea  in  Crete,  and  the 
actual  soundings  and  nature  of  the  bottom  off  Point  Koura 
on  the  north-east  side  of  Malta,^  it  has  been  demonstrated 
that  he  is  writing  with  minute  knowledge  and  careful  repro- 
duction of  tested  facts.^ 

6.  The  book  records  the  rapid  growth  and  triumphant 
progress  of  Christianity  in  the  midst  of  deadly  opposition. 
Its  epitome  is  given  in  the  words :  "  So  mightily  grew  the 
Word  of  God." 

In  the  Agcimcmnon  of  Aeschylus  there  is  a  magnificent 
description  of  the  fire-signals  by  which  the  Greek  hero  made 
known  to  his  queen  at  Argos  the  capture  of  Troy.  The  poet 
tells  us  how  the  courier  flame  flashed  from  mountain  to 
mountain,  leaping  over  the  plains  and  seas  from  Ida  to  the 
scaur  of  Hermes  in  Lemnos,  thence  to  Mount  Athos,  then  to 
Makistus,  Messapium,  Cithaeron,  and  so  at  last  to  the  roof 
of  the  Atridae. 

Even  so  does  St.  Luke,  a  poet,  and  more  than  a  poet,  tell 
us  how  the  beacon-lights  of  Christianity  flashed  from  Jerusalem 

1  This  is  strikingly  proved  in  the  monograph  on  the  vo3-age  and  shipwreck 
of  St.  Taul  by  Mr.  James  Smith  of  Jordanliill,  and  in  recent  works. 

2  Every  one  of  the  discoveries  made  by  Mr.  J.  T.  Wood  in  liis  excavations  at 
Ephesus  tended  to  establish  the  accuracy  of  St.  Luke.  See  Bishop  Lightfoot 
in  the  Conlcmp.  Rev.  for  May,  1878, 


THE  APOSTLES. 


Grandeur  of  the  Acts.  137 

to  Antioch — from  Antioch  to  EidIigsus,  and  to  Troas,  and  to  the  acts  of 
Philippi — from  Philippi  to  Athens  and  Corinth,  until  at 
last  it  was  kindled  in  the  very  palace  and  Praetorian  camp  of 
the  Caesars  at  Imperial  Rome.  The  Light  of  the  World 
dawned  in  the  little  Judean  village,  and  brightened  in  the 
Galilean  hills,  and  then  it  seemed  to  set  upon  Golgotha  amid 
disastrous  eclipse.  The  book  of  "Acts"  shows  us  how, 
rekindled  from  its  apparent  embers,  in  the  brief  space  of 
thirty  years,  it  had  gleamed  over  the  Aegean  and  over  Hadria, 
and  had  filled  Asia  and  Greece  and  Italy  with  such  light  as 
had  never  shone  before  on  land  or  sea. 

7.  And  it  gives  us  at  the  same  time  the  secret  of  this 
progress,  in  which  the  new  faith  by  "  the  irresistible  might 
of  weakness"  shook  the  world. 

That  secret,  as  we  learn  from  the  first  verses,  was  the 
promise  of  the  Father,  the  power  of  the  Resurrection,  the 
outpouring  at  Pentecost,  and  afterwards,  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of 
God.  "  The  Spirit " — the  "  Holy  Spirit " — is  mentioned  more 
often  iu  this  book  than  in  any  other  part  of  Scripture.^  It 
is  a  comment  on  the  old  prophecy  :  "  Not  by  might  nor  by 
power,  but  by  My  Spirit,  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts," 

8.  Lastly,  the  book  is  beautifully  stamped  with  the  indi- 
viduality of  the  writer  in  its  amiable  catholicity,  its  "  sweet 
reasonableness,"  its  abounding  geniality,  its  zeal,  and  hope 
and  love.  In  these  respects  as  it  is  the  earliest,  so  too  it  is 
the  most  unique  and  attractive  of  all  Church  Histories. 
Ecclesiastical  history  is  not  always  pleasant  to  read.  It  is 
too  often  the  record  of  supine  indifference  on  the  one  side 
and  on  the  other  of  daring  usurpation.  It  abounds  too  often 
in  sanguinary  episodes,  it  is  disgraced  too  often  by  fierce 
partisanships  and  arrogant  passions.  It  furnishes  melancholy 
proofs  of  insidious  corruption ;  of  the  hollow  compromise 
between  spirituality  and  worldliness;  of  the  deadly  facility 
with  which  ritual  and  organisation  can  take  the  place  of 
manly  freedom  and  heart  religion.    It  tells  us  how  Christians, 

^  No  less  than  seventy-one  times. 


133  The  Acts  of  the  Apostles. 

riiK  ACTS  OF  out  of  careless  ignorance  and  the  eternal  Pharisaism  of  the 
ruE  Ai'osTLKs.  i^m^ian  heart,  submit  to  the  reimposition  of  abrogated  tyrannies 
and  thrust  priests  and  formulae,  and  all  sorts  of  external  in- 
fallibilities between  themselves  and  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord. 
There  are  many  centuries — especially  when  Christianity  began 
to  lose  more  and  more  of  its  true  simplicity — in  which  Church 
History  is  only  exhilarating  to  those  who  love  to  trace  the 
growth  of  formalism  and  the  decadence  of  faith.  But  in  the 
Origines  Christianae  of  St.  Luke  we  see  a  spectacle  which  is 
in  all  respects  worthy  of  the  faith  of  Christ.  We  see  irre- 
sistible advance ;  we  see  indomitable  resolution ;  we  see  the 
conciliatory  spirit  which  leads  to  mutual  accommodation  ;  we 
see  the  Spirit  of  God  triumphing  not  only  over  the  idolatrous 
corruptions  of  Paganism,  but  also  over  the  more  subtle  and 
dangerous  opj^osition  of  false  types  of  orthodoxy,  and  false 
types  of  Christian  life.  We  read  the  ultimate  doom  of 
Antichrist,  alike  in  his  semblance  to  Christ,  and  in  his  enmity 
against  Him.  We  see  that  when  men  are  faithful  their  dead- 
liest foes  may  be  those  witliin  as  well  as  those  without  the 
fold  which  they  would  defend ;  but  that,  however  feeble  God's 
servants  may  be,  and  however  furiously  they  may  be  hated, 
God  still  strengthens  them  to  the  pulling  down  of  invincible 
strongholds.  It  can  never  be  ill  with  the  Church  of  God  so 
long  as  she  remains  true  to  the  high  lessons  of  hope,  of 
courage,  and  of  sweetness,  which  she  was  meant  to  learn  from 
this  brief  and  fragmentary,  but  faithful  and  glowing,  history 
of  her  earliest  days.^  Her  best  and  most  persecuted  sons — 
not  those  who  swim  with,  but  those  who  stem,  the  tide  of  her 
current  insincerities ;  not  those  Avho  spread  their  sails  to  the 
summer  breeze,  but  those  who  are  ready  to  face  the  storm  ; 
men  like  Wiclif,  Huss,  Savonarola,  Luther,  Wesley,  Whitfield 
— may  read  in  the  story  of  how  it  fared  with  St.  Peter  and 

^  The  word  x<^P'^  "grace"  (akin  to  x"''/""  "^  I'ejoice")  is  characteristic  of 
St.  Luke  and  St.  Paul.  It  occurs  in  Jolin  i.  14-17,  in  St.  Luke's  Gospel, 
eight  times,  in  the  Acts  seventeen  times,  and  incessantly  in  St.  Paul. 
Xapi^ouat  occurs  twice  in  St.  Luke's  Gospel,  three  times  in  the  Acts,  and  often 
iu  St.  Paul ;  but  not  elsewhere  in  the  New  Testament. 


Lessons  of  the  Acts.  139 

St.  Paul,  that  the  servant  must  still  be  as  his  Master,  and  the  acts  op 
that  they  can  never  be  exempt  from  the  hatred  of  false  ^"'^ '^^°'^'^^^^- 
Apostles,  like  Judas,  and  false  princes,  like  Herod,  and  false 
rulers,  like  Pilate,  and  false  religious  parties,  like  the  Pharisees 
and  Sadducees,  led  on  by  false  priests,  like  Annas  and 
Caiaphas ; — but  that  nevertheless,  the  foundation  of  God 
standeth  sure,  having  this  seal, "  The  Lord  knoweth  them  that 
are  His,"  and  "  Let  him  that  nameth  the  name  of  Christ 
depart  from  iniquity." 


THE  EPISTLES. 


FOEM  OF   THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  EPISTLES. 


Der  Schlachtruf,  der  St.  Pauli  Bnist  entsprungen 

Rief  nicht  sein  Echo  auf  zu  tausend  Streiten  ? 

Und  welch  ein  Friedensecho  hat  geklungen 

Durch  tausend  Herzen  von  Johannis  Saiten  ! 

Wie  viele  rasche  Feuer  sind  entglommen 

Als  widerschein  von  Petri  Funkenspriihen  ! 

Und  sieht  man  Andre  still  mit  0})fern  kommen 

Ist's  well  sie  in  Jakobi  Schul'  gediehen  : — 

Ein  Satz  ist's  der  in  Variationen 

Vom  erstem  Aufang  forttont  durch  Jilonen. — Tholuck, 


♦'  Letters  weighty  and  strong." — 2  Cor.  x.  10. 

The  New  Covenant  is  the  Revelation  of  the  Gospel  of  the  epistles. 
Jesus  Christ.  A  large  part  of  that  revelation  is  conveyed 
to  us  in  the  form  of  letters.  Those  letters  are  twenty-one  in 
number.  The  New  Testament  is  indeed  entirely  composed 
of  a  collection  of  letters,  together  with  five  historical  books 
and  one  Apocalyptic  Vision. 

In  this  respect  the  records  of  Christianity  are  absolutely 
unique  in  the  religious  history  of  the  world.  Of  all  the 
sacred  books  which  the  world  has  seen  there  is  not  one  which 
is  composed  mainly,  or  at  all,  of  letters,  with  the  single  ex- 
ception of  the  New  Testament.  The  Bibles  of  the  world — 
the  Vedas,  the  Zend  Avesta,  the  Tripitaka,  the  Koran,  the 
writings  of  Confucius — are  poems  or  rhythmic  addresses,  or 
legendary  histories,  or  philosophic  discourses.  In  this,  as 
in  all  other  respects,  the  ways  of  God's   Providence  differ 


144  The  Epistles. 

THE  EPISTLES,  from  maii's  expectations.  We  may  thank  God  that  we  derive 
some  of  the  deepest  truths  of  our  belief  from  documents  so 
simple,  so  individual,  so  full  of  human  interest  and  love — 
written,  most  of  them,  "  in  a  style  the  most  personal  that 
ever  existed." 

Yet  it  may  perhaps  be  doubted  whether  there  are  ever 
many  persons  in  an  ordinary  congregation  who,  if  asked  to 
explain  what  is  the  special  scope  and  outline — the  charac- 
teristic meaning  and  tenor — of  any  one  of  those  deeply 
important  letters,  would  be  able  to  do  so  with  any  definite- 
ness.  But  surely  it  is  necessary  for  an  intelligent  acquaint- 
ance with  "  the  oracles  of  God  " — for  a  real  knowledge  of, 
and  reverence  for  the  Bible,  and  a  power  to  read  it  aright — 
that  we  should  know  something  of  its  books  as  well  as  of 
those  isolated  fragments  which  we  call  "  texts."  That  is  the 
reason  why  it  seems  desirable,  in  a  very  simple  way,  to  make 
clearer,  for  those  who  need  such  help,  the  totality  and  general 
bearing  of  the  books  of  Scripture.  And  the  best  result 
which  we  could  desire  would  be  that,  like  the  noble  Bereans 
of  old,  we  should  all  be  stimulated  to  read  and  to  inquire — 
searching  the  Scriptures  for  ourselves  whether  these  things 
are  so. 

1.  Now  the  twenty-one  letters,  which  occupy  more  than 
a  full  third  of  the  New  Testament,  fall  into  well-marked 
groups.  Two  of  them — the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  and  the 
1st  Epistle  of  St.  John — to  some  extent  also  the  Epistle  to 
the  Romans — are  more  like  treatises  than  letters;  of  the 
remainder,  four  are  Catholic — that  is,  addressed  to  the 
Church  in  general ;  nine  are  addressed  to  separate  Churches ; 
.  and  six  are  written  to  private  persons.     These  twenty-one 

^"  •  '  '  letters  represent  the  thoughts  of  at  least  six  writers.  Thir- 
teen of  them  are  by  St.  Paul,  who  had  the  chief  share  in 
moulding  Hellenistic  Greek  for  the  purpose  of  expressing 
Christian  truth ;  three  by  St.  John ;  one,  and  perhaps  in- 
directly two,  by  St.  Peter;  two  by  St.  James  and  St.  Jude, 
both  brethren  of  the  Lord ;   and  one — the  Epistle   to  the 


Manifold  Wisdom.  145 

Plebrews — by  an  unknown  writer,  probably  Ai^ollos.'  There  the  epistles. 
is  an  inestimable  advantage  in  this  rich  variety.  The  glory  of 
Christianity — the  sevenfold  perfection  of  undivided  light — 
was  too  bright  to  be  adequately  reflected  by  any  single 
human  mind.  It  is  an  infinite  privilege  that,  by  divers  and 
manifold  reflexions,  we  are  thus  enabled  not  only  to  sec  the 
commingled  lustre  of  the  jewels  of  the  ephod,  but  also  the 
separate  hues  of  each  oracular  gem.  We  are  thus  enabled 
to  realise  what  St.  Paul  beautifully  describes  as  the  many- 
coloured,  the  richly- variegated  wisdom  of  God.  We  see 
Christianity  from  the  first  in  its  manifold  diversity,  as  well 
as  in  its  blended  simplicity.  We  can  judge  of  it  as  it  ap- 
peared to  men  of  differing  temperaments,  and  as  it  was 
understood  in  divergent  yet  harmonious  schools  of  thought. 
In  the  letters  of  St.  Peter  we  see  it  in  its  moderate,  its  con- 
ciliatory, its  comprehensive,  its  Catholic  aspect.  In  St. 
James  and  St.  Jude  it  is  presented  in  its  more  limited  and 
more  Judaic  phase.     In  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  we  see  ^ 

how  it  was  regarded  by  the  philosophic  school  of  Alexandrian 
students.  In  the  letters  of  St.  Paul  we  have  the  Chris- 
tianity of  freedom ;  of  complete  emancipation  from  Levitic 
externalism ; — the  Gospel  to  the  Gentile  world.  In  those  of 
St.  John  we  have  Christianit}'-  in  its  iutensest  spirituality,  in 
its  abstractest  essence,  as  the  religion  of  sjDi ritual  purity, 
love,  and  adoration.  And  with  all  these  glorious  sources 
from  which  to  learn,  we  may  well  feel  a  humble  thankfulness 
and  exclaim  with  the  poet, 

"  Oh  that  I  knew  how  all  thy  lights  combine 
And  the  configurations  of  their  glorie  ; 
Seeing  not  only  liow  each  verse  doth  shine, 
But  all  the  constellations  of  the  storie  ! 

My  object  in  this  discourse  will  be  twofold  :  First  of 
all,  to  show  the  advantage  of  this  epistolary  form  for    the 

^  That  God  chose  His  own  fit  instruments  and  that  the  sacredness  of  the 
books  wasA^""^  to  the  i)rior  position  of  these  writers  is  clear  from  the  fact 
that  only  four  of  the  writers  were  Apostles.  Most  of  the  Apostles  lived  and 
died  unknown. 


r- 


l-i^  The  Ej^lstJcH. 

Tin:  Ki'isTLEs.  conveyance  of  divine  truth;  secondly,  by  getting  a  clear 
conception  of  what  Christian  letters  were,  to  study  the 
method  adopted  in  nearly  all  of  them,  and  especially  in  those 
of  the  great  Apostle  St.  Paul.  These  Pauline  letters  occupy 
more  pages  than  the  first  three  Gospels  put  together,  and,  if 
we  coimt  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  which  is  also  Pauline 
in  its  general  tone,  are  more  than  three  times  the  bulk 
of  all  the  other  letters. 

r.  As  to  the  first  point,  the  epistolary  form  of  tlie  New 
Testament,  it  might  perhaps  strike  us  as  strange  that  the 
deepest  truths  and  the  highest  arguments  of  our  religion 
should  have  been  conveyed  to  us  in  casual  letters.  For 
casual,  humanly  speaking,  they  were.  They  are  only  pre- 
-^  served  to  us  out  of  many  which  must  have  perished.'     Every 

Christian  will  feel  tliat  they  were  preserved  b}'  a  special 
divine  Providence ;  but  it  is  none  the  less  true  that  their 
preservation  was  owing  to  causes  which,  in  ordinary  language, 
might  be  called  accidental.  Nor,  again,  were  they  pre- 
determined letters,  but  they  rose,  for  the  most  part,  out  of  the 
circumstances  of  the  day.  St.  Paul  wrote  one  letter  because 
in  a  previous  letter  of  his  to  the  same  Church  he  had  been 
somewhat  misunderstood ;  another  because  he  had  been 
secretly  calumniated  and  opposed ;  a  third  to  check  an  in- 
cipient apostasy  ;  a  fourth  to  express  his  warm  gratitude  for 

,  ^  Tliis  imistJiaxeJjeen  so  from  the  nature  of  the  ease,  and  is  now  generally 

admitted.  Wecan  hardly  see  any  other  form  in  which  the  care  of  all  the 
churches  could  have  come  upon  St.  Paul  daily  (2  Cor.  xi.  28).  There  is  no 
more  reason  to  believe  that  every  word  which  an  Apostle  wrote  was  "  inspired  " 
than  every  word  which  he  spoke.  Traces  of  letters  written  by  St.  Paul 
which  have  now  perished  are  found  in  1  Cor.  v.  9.  "I  wrote  to  you  ire  the 
letter  not  to  associate  with  fornicators  ;  "  and  in  2  Cor.  x.  9,  10,  "  That  I  may 
not  seem  as  though  I  would  frighten  you  by  my  letters  "  (5<d  twv  i-KimoXwv). 
Another  lost  letter  may  be  alluded  to  in  Eph.  iii.  3  ;  and  another,  which  may 
however  be  an  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  in  Col.  iv.  16.  It  is^jmpossible__tQ_ 
suppose  that  St.  Paul  never  wrote  to  tliank  the  Philiiipians  for  the  contribu- 
tions which  they  twice  sent  to  him  to  Thessalonica  (Phil.  iv.  16)  ;  or  that  he 
dictated  no  line  to  the  Thessalonians  when  he  despatched  Timothy  to  them  from 
Athens  (1  Thess.  iii.  5).  In  2  Thess.  iii.  17,  he  speaks  of  his  signature  as 
the  authentication  "in  crcry  letter  "  ;  could  he  have  used  this  expression,  if, 
as  yet,  he  had  only  written  one?  The  preservation  of  brief  Epistles  written 
on  fugitive  materials  in  troublous  times  is  far  more  surprising  than  that  others 
(perhaps  undoctrinal  and  unimportant)  should  have  perished. 


Occasions  of  Writing.  147 

a  pecuniary  contribution  while  he  was  in  prison  ;  a  fifth  be-  the  epistles. 
cause  he  wished  to  intercede  for  a  runaway  slave  ;  a  sixth 
because,  in  his  last  days,  he  longed  to  be  cheered  by  the 
society  of  a  beloved  convert.  St.  John  wrote  one  letter — a 
little  note,  as  we  should  call  it — to  convey  a  kindly  message 
to  a  Christian  lady  ;  another  to  a  hospitable  friend  to  wai'n 
him  against  the  presumption  of  an  intriguing  presbyter.  We 
see  then  that  Providence  has  ordained  that  many  of  the 
documents  from  which  we  derive  our  faith  should  be  in  the 
form  of  unconstrained  epistolary  intercourse.  And  this,  so 
far  from  being  a  matter  of  regret,  was  a  happy  circumstance. 
We  might,  indeed,  assume  a  priori  that  the  form  chosen  for 
the  dissemination  of  the  Gospel  by  the  Providence  of  God 
was  the  best  that  covild  be  chosen ;  and  it  may  be  safely 
asserted  that  the  hold  which  the  New  Testament  has  taken 
on  the  minds  of  men  has  been  due  in  great  measure  to  its 
personal  element.  Christian  theology  would  have  been  im- 
measurably less  effective  if  it  had  been  conveyed  to  the  world 
in  canons,  or  articles,  or  liturgies,  or  scholastic  treatises.^ 

II.  The  epistolary  form  of  Christian  instruction  was, 
then,  a  providential  arrangement,  first  of  all — I  say  it  with- 
out hesitation — because  that  form  of  writing  is  essentially 
unsystematic.  It  might  well  seem  an  astonishing  circum- 
stance that  we  should  have  been  left  to  learn  almost 
all  that  we  know,  not  only  about  Church  organisation, 
but  even  about  many  deej)  theological  mysteries  from  forms 
of  writing  so  apparently  unpremeditated.  But  the  method  of 
the  Bible  is  alien  from  the  spirit  of  elaborate,  technical,  all- 
explaining  theological  systems,  which  attempt  to  store  away 
the  infinite  in  the  little  cells  of  the  finite,  and  to  soar  up  to 
the  secrets  of  the  Deity  on  the  waxen  wings  of  the  under- 
standing.  We  may  thank  God  that  it  has  not  pleased  Him  to 

^  The  same  human  and  personal  interest,  in  other  forms,  reigns  throughout 
the  Old  Testament.  Letters,  indeed,  are  naturally  rare  (though  we  find  a 
prophet's  letter  in  2  Chron.  xxi.)  because  Palestine  was  a  small  country,  and 
personal  intercourse  was  easy.  It  was  a  ditlcrent  matter  when  Christian 
communities  were  scattered  over  hundreds  of  miles  of  sea  and  land. 

L    2 


148  The  Epistles. 

THE  KPisTLEs.  cxj^rGSS  tlic  plau  of  salvation  in  dialectics.  The  technical  termi- 
nology, the  rigid  systematisation  of  divine  mysteries  is  due  to 
exigencies  caused  by  human  error — sometimes  even  to  the 
jjride  of  human  reason — far  more  than  to  the  initiative  set 
us  by  the  sacred  writers.^ 

III.  Again,  the  epistolary  form  of  so  much  of  the  New 
Testament  was  better  adapted  than  all  others  to  the  indi- 
viduality of  the  great  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles.  It  suited 
that  impetuosity  of  feeling — that  warm,  emotional  nature 
Avhich  modern  cynicism  would  have  sneered  at  as  "  gushing  '' 
or  "  hysterical " — which  could  not  have  been  fettered  down  to 
the  composition  of  formal  treatises.  A  letter  could  be  taken 
ujj  or  dropped,  according  to  the  necessities  of  the  occasion 
or  the  moods  of  the  writer.  It  permitted  of  a  freedom  of 
expression  far  more  vigorous,  and  far  more  natural  to  the 
Apostle,  than  the  regular  syllogisms  and  rounded  periods  of 
a  formal  book.  It  admitted  something  of  the  tenderness  and 
something  of  the  familiarity  of  personal  intercourse.  Into 
no  other  literary  form  could  have  been  infused  that  intensity 
of  feeling  which  made  Casaubon  truly  say  of  St.  Paul  that 
he  alone  of  writers  seems  to  have  written,  not  with  fingers 
and  pen  and  ink,  but  with  his  very  heart  and  vitals,  and  the 
very  throb  of  his  inmost  being ;  which  made  St.  Jerome  say 
that  his  words  were  so  many  thunders  ;  which  made  Luther 
compare  them  to  living  creatures  with  hands  and  feet.  A 
letter  is  eminently  personal,  flexible,  spontaneous  ;  it  is  like 
"  a  stenographed  conversation."  It  best  enabled  Paul  to  be 
himself,  and  to  recall  most  vividly  to  the  minds  of  his 
spiritual  children  the  tender,  suffering,  inspired,  desponding, 

'  St.  Paul's  letters,  with  their  numerous  antimonies,  as  much  resist  the 
process  of  formal  and  scholastic  systematisation  as  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount. 
"Tracts  for  the  time  they  were  tracts  for  all  times.  Children  of  the  fleeting 
moment,  they  contain  truths  of  infinite  moment.  Tliey  compress  more  ideas 
into  fewer  words  than  any  other  writings,  human  or  divine,  excci>t  tlie  Go.sj)els. 
They  discuss  the  highest  themes  wliich  can  challenge  an  immortal  mind.  And 
all  this  before  humble  little  societies !  And  yet  they  are  of  more  real  and 
general  value  to  the  Church  than  all  the  systems  of  theology,  from  Origen  to 
Sclilciermacher.  For  1800  years  they  have  nourished  the  faith  of  Christendom 
and  will  do  so  to  the  end  of  time." — Schalf.  Jli^t.  of  Clmstian  Church, 
p.  741. 


Individuality  of  the  Epistles.  149 

terrible,  impassioned,  humble,  uncompromising  teacher  who,  the  epistles. 
in  courage  and  in  trembling,  in  zeal  and  weakness,  in  close 
reasonings  and  strong  appeals,  had  first  taught  them  to  be 
imitators  of  himself  and  of  the  Lord.  His  Epistles  came 
fresh  and  burning  from  the  heart,  and  therefore  they  go 
fresh  and  burning  to  the  heart.^  Take  away  from  them  the 
traces  of  individual  feeling,  the  warmth,  the  invective,  the 
yearning  affection,  the  vehement  denunciations,  the  bitter 
sarcasms,  the  distressed  boasting,  the  rapid  interrogatives, 
the  frank  colloquialisms,  the  private  details,  the  impassioned 
personal  appeals — all  that  has  been  absurdly  called  their 
"  intense  egotism  " — and  they  would  never  have  been  as  they 
are,  next  to  the  Psalms  of  David,  and  for  something  of  the 
same  reason,  the  dearest  treasures  of  Christian  devotion ; — 
next  to  the  four  Gospels,  the  most  cherished  text-books  of 
Christian  faith.  St.  Paul  was  eminently  and  emphatically 
a  man ;  a  man  who  had  known  much  of  life  ;  a  man  who, 
like  the  legendary  Ulysses,  had  seen  many  cities  and  knew 
the  minds  of  men.  He  was  no  narrow  scribe,  no  formalising 
Pharisee,  no  stunted  ascetic,  no  dreaming  recluse,  no  scholastic 
theologian,  no  priestly  externalist,  who  could  suppose  that 
the  world  depended  on  the  right  burning  of  the  two  kidneys 
and  the  fat ; — he  was  a  man,  full  of  strength  and  weak- 
ness, full  of  force  and  fire.  He  was  not  a  man  to  mistake 
words  for  things,  or  outward  scrupulosity  for  true  service,  or 
verbal  formulae  for  real  knowledge.  Whether  it  is  with  a 
burst  of  tears  or  in  a  flame  of  indignation  that  he  seizes  his 

1  Of  the  special  style  of  St.  Taiil  I  have  spoken  fully  elsewhere,  and  I  have 
shown  the  extreme  probability  that  he  had  attended  classes  of  rhetoric  in  his 
early  years  at  Tarsus.  Otlierwise,  considering  the  thoroughly  Semitic  cast  of 
his  mind,  it  would  be  difficult  to  account  for  the  fact  that  there  is  scarcely 
a  figure  of  Greek  rhetoric  which  he  does  not  familiarly  use.  The  same  remark 
would  apply  to  no  other  writer  of  the  LXX.  or  of  the  New  Testament. 
Here  it  will  be  sufficient  to  refer  to  his  Enumerations  (Asyndeta  1  Cor.  xiii. 
4-8;  2  Cor.  vi.  4-10  ;  xi.  22-28  &c.)  ;  Antitheses  (2  Cor.  iv.  7-12  ;  v.  21)  ; 
Climaxes,  (1  Cor.  xiii.,  2  Cor.  vii.  11)  ;  Rapid  interrogatives  (Rom.  viii. 
31-34  ;  1  Cor.  ix.  1-9  ;  Gal.  iii.  1-5)  ;  Irony  (1  Cor.  iv.  8  ;  2  Cor.  xi. 
16,  &c.);  Multiplication  of  Synonyms  (2  Cor.  vi.  14-16  ;  Rom.  ii.  17-23^  ; 
Oxvmora  (2  Cor.  ii.  2,  viii.  2,  xii.  10) ;  and  Paronomasias  (Rom.  i.  29,  30 ; 
2  Cor.  iii.  2;  Phil.  iii.  2,  3,  &c.) 


© 


150  The  Epistles. 

pen  or  begins  his  dictation,  he  will  always  speak  out  the  very 
thing  he  thinks.  The  mere  form  of  these  writings  led  to 
blessed  results.  When  we  remember  that  the  Christians  of 
the  first  one  or  two  decades  after  the  Crucifixion  had  no 
Christian  books  at  all,  and  that  all,  or  nearly  all,  the  letters  of 
the  Apostles  Avere  the  very  earliest  books  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, and  were  known  to  Christians  before  the  Gospels,  we 
cannot  doubt  that  to  their  fresh  individuality  is  due,  at  least 
in  part,  the  radiant  simplicity,  the  glad  enthusiasm  of  the 
early  Church.  What  can  be  more  free,  and  buoyant,  and 
varied  than  St.  Paul's  letters  ?  Brilliant,  broken,  impetuous 
as  the  mountain  torrent  freshly  filled ;  never  smooth  and 
calm,  but  on  the  eve  of  some  bold  leap  ;  never  vehement,  but 
to  fill  some  pool  of  clearest  peace  ;  they  present  everywhere 
the  image  of  a  vigorous  joy.  Beneath  their  reasonings  and 
their  philosophy  there  may  ever  be  heard  a  secret  lyric  strain 
of  glorious  praise,  bursting  at  times  into  open  utterance  and 
asking  others  to  join  the  chorus.  His  life  was  a  battle,  from 
which,  in  intervals  of  the  good  fight,  his  words  arose  as  the 
song  of  victory, 

2.  Such,  then,  is  the  epistolary  form  in  which,  by  God's 
Providence,  a  large  part  of  His  latest  dispensation  has  been 
banded  down  to  us.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  letters 
between  Churches  and  their  teachers  were  no  new  things.^ 
From  very  early  times  the  Jewish  communities  had  thus 
corresponded  with  each  other  by  epistles  which  were  carried 
by  travelling  deputations.  These  epistles,  which  were  often 
upon  disputed  points  of  doctrine,  were  called  iggerdth 
(nn^S).  The  intercourse  between  various  communities  in 
the  cities  of  Italy,  Greece,  and  Asia  was  immensely  de- 
veloped. Emissaries,  "Apostles  "  in  the  original  sense  of  the 
word,  the  synagogue-f-ministers  whom  the  Jews  called 
Sheloochim,2  were   in   constant   employment.      Inscriptions 

'  Baruch  vi.  is  a  (spurioiis)  letter  of  Jeremiah  to  the  Babylonian  exiles, 
2  Mace.  i.  gives  us  an  ancient  specimen  of  such  a  letter. 

-  The  "  delegate"  or  *' messenger  of  tlie  congregation"  was  known  as 
Slicliach  Zibbur. 


Form  of  the  Epistles.  151 

tell  us  of  the  scores  of  times  that  a  merchant  or  agent  had  the  epistles. 

sailed  between  the  coast  of  Asia  and  Corinth  or  Brundusium. 

Even   in   St.  Paul's   little  circle  we   observe   the  incessant 

activity  of  missionary  work    which    occupied    the    time   of 

Luke,  Timothy,  Titus,  Crescens,  Apollos,  Mark,  Aristarchus, 

Stephanus,  and  others.     And  it  is  probable  that  they  rarely 

went  from  Church  to  Church  without  carrying  at  least  a  few 

lines  of  written  greeting,  or  instruction,  or  consolation,  or,  at 

the   very  least,   of  introduction  and   authentication.      Thus, 

and  thus  only,  was  St.  Paul  able  to  sate  the   ardour  of  his 

missionary  zeal. 

3.  And  what  is  the  uniform  outline  of  almost  every  one  of 
these  Epistles  ?  Amid  all  their  rich  exuberance  of  detail 
we  find  in  them  all  a  general  identity  of  structure.^  St.  Paul's 
Epistles  to  the  Churches  fall,  almost  invariably,  into  these 
six  divisions. 

i.  First,  a  greeting,  sometimes  very  brief,  sometimes  ex- 
tending over  several  verses,  in  which  he  generally  manages 
with  consummate  skill,  to  strike  the  keynote  of  the  whole 
letter. 

ii.  Secondly,  a  thanksgiving  to  God  for  the  Christian 
gifts  and  graces  of  his  converts. 

iii.  Thirdly,  a  doctrinal  part,  in  which  he  argues  out  or 
explains  some  great  topic  of  Christian  truth,  specially  re- 
quired by  the  condition  of  the  Church  to  which  he  is 
writing. 

iv.  Fourthly,  a  practical  section,  in  which  he  applies 
to  daily  moral  duties  the  great  doctrines  which  he  has 
developed. 

V.  Fifthly,  personal  messages,  salutations,  and  details. 

^  Eeiiss,  ThSologic  Chret.  ii.  11.  It  is  an  interesting  subject  of  inquiry  to 
what  extent  there  was  at  this  period  an  ordinary  form  of  correspondence  which 
(as  among  ourselves)  was  to  some  extent  fixed.  In  tlie  papjTUS  rolls  of 
the  British  Museum  (edited  for  the  trustees  by  J.  Forshall)  tliere  are  forms 
and  phrases  which  constantly  remind  us  of  St.  Paul.  Renan  is  probably 
right  in  comparing  the  journeys  of  the  Christinn  delegates,  so  far  as  their 
outward  circumstances  are  concerned,  to  those  of  llm  Batoutah  or  Benjamin 
of  Tudela. 


152  The  Epistles. 

;.       vi.  Sixthly,   a   brief   autograph    conclusion    to    ratify  the 
genuineness  of  the  entire  letter. 

This  or  that  division  may  be  wanting,  or  may  be  subordi- 
nate, in  one  or  other  of  the  letters  to  the  Churches,  but  this 
is  the  almost  invariable  outline — the  scheme  and  form  so  to 
speak — of  them  all.^ 

Now  though  the  mere  salutations  at  the  beginning  of  the 
letters  might  seem  to  be  a  small  matter,  we  should 
observe  the  beautiful  element  of  novelty,  of  universality, 
and  of  depth  which  they  involve.  The  ordinary  salutation 
of  a  Greek  letter  was  "joy"  (xalpetv);^  of  a  Jewish  letter 
"peace"  {Shalom).  The  Apostles  unite  both,  and  into 
each  they  infuse  a  far  deeper  intensity  of  meaning.  Into 
Hellenism  and  Hebraism  they  struck  the  divine  spirit  of 
Christianity.^  The  Christian  has  a  right  to  the  joy  of  the 
Greek  and  to  the  peace  of  the  Jew,  and  to  both  in  supreme 
measure.  The  "  grace  "  is  the  Greek's  bright  joy  embathed 
in  sjDiritual  blessing  ;  the  "  peace  "  is  a  peace  hitherto  hardly 
dreamed  of;  a  peace  of  which  there  is  scarcely  the  faintest 
trace  in  all  the  golden  realms  of  heathen  literature  ;  a  peace 
which  passeth  all  understanding.  And  thus,  as  it  were,  by 
one  touch,  in  a  single  phrase,  does  the  Apostle  show,  quite 
incidentally,  yet  with  finest  significance,  that  Christianity  is 
not  only  for  individuals,  not  only  for  nations  even,  but  for 
the  world  ; — that  in  Christ  the  distinctions  of  castes  and 
nations  are  done  away ;  that  in  Him  there  is  neither  Greek, 
nor  Jew,  nor  barbarian,  nor  bond,  nor  free  ;  that  for  us  the 
blessings  of  Hellenism  and  Hebraism  may  be  severally 
intensified  and  mutually  combined. 

^  Something  not  nnlilce  this  general  foiin  may  be  seen  even  in  the  letters  to 
the  Seven  Churches  in  the  Apocalypse. 

"  See  the  letter  of  Lysias  to  Felix,  Acts  xxiii.  26  ;  and  (which  is  curious) 
the  letter  of  the  Synod  of  Jerusalem  to  the  Gentile  Church  (Acts  xv.  23),  and 
even  the  letter  written  to  Jews  by  the  Judaist  St.  James  (Jas.  i.  1). 

*  "'Grace'  which  is  the  beginning  of  every  blessing;  'Peace'  which  is 
the  end  of  all  blessings."  St.  Thomas  Aquinas.  In  his  later  Epistles  he  made 
the  touching  addition  of  "mercy."  The  salutation  of  the  Roman  world — from 
which  our  word  "salutation"  is  derived — was  "health"  (s.p.d.  salukni 
pliirimam  dicit.) 


Greeting  and  Thanksgiving.  153 

4.  Another  noteworthy  point  in  these  initial  greetings  is  that  the  epistle;: 
in  his  later  letters  St,  Paul  addresses  his  words,  "  not  to  the 
Church,"  but  to  "  the  saints."  Let  us  not  carelessly  overlook 
the  deep  lesson  involved  in  this.  Whatever  we  are  we  are  called 
to  be,  we  are  meant  to  be,  saints,  i.e.  holy.  No  Church  can 
be  bound  together,  no  worship  can  be  arranged,  no  rules  of 
Christian  living  laid  down  on  any  other  supposition.  The 
very  word  for  "  Church "  in  the  original  means  "  called 
out "  ' — summoned  forth  from  the  world  to  higher  aims  and 
holier  aspirations.  We  may  fall  indefinitely  short  of  our 
ideal ;  we  may  be  very  wavering  in  our  pledged  allegiance  ; 
but  let  us  never  forget  that  the  Gospel  is  addressed  to  those 
who,  even  if  they  be  sinners,  are  yet  called  of  God,  called  to 
sanctification.  In  Christians  an  unholy  life  is  not  only 
neglect  but  rebellion ;  not  only  indifference  but  desertion ; 
not  only  ignorance  but  apostasy.  Does  not  the  whole  tone 
of  St.  Paul's  letters,  even  to  such  Churches  as  Corinth,  does 
not  the  whole  tone  of  our  own  Prayer  Book  proclaim  to  us 
that  we  are  by  our  very  birthright  Christians,  i.e.  a  chosen 
generation,  a  royal  priesthood,  a  holy  nation,  a  peculiar 
people  ?  ^ 

5.  Then  how  remarkable  is  the  thanksgiving  which  St. 
Paul  places  after  the  greeting  in  the  letter  to  every  Church 
except  that  impetuous  rebuke  which  he  addressed  to  the 
Galatians.     What  a  spirit  of  hopefulness  does  it  display — 

1  The  word  'EKKK-qnia  is  used  in  the  Gospels  by  St.  ]\Iatthe\v  alone  (Matt. 
xvi.  18  ;  xviii.  17).  It  corresponds  to  the  Hebrew  ?nip.  St.  James  still 
characteristically  retains  the  word  "  synagogue  "  to  describe  even  a  Christian 
place  of  worship.     Jas.  ii.  2. 

^  The  peculiarities  of  the  opening  salutations  of  St.  Paul's  Epistles  may  be 
summed  up  as  follows,  (i.)  In  all  his  Epistles  after  his  two  first  (1,  2  Thess.) 
written  at  a  period  before  the  Judaisers  had  questioned  his  Apostolic  authority 
— he  calls  himself  " an  Apostle"  ;  except  in  the  private  letter  to  Philemon, 
and  in  the  letter  to  his  beloved  Philip]>ians  to  whom  the  designation  was 
needless,  (ii.)  In  his  five  earliest  Epistles  (1,  2  Thess.  1,  2  Cor.  Gal.)  he 
addresses  himself  to  "  <Ac  Church."  (iii  )  In  1,  2  Thess.  he  writes  "to  the 
Church  of  tJis  "  ;  in  later  letters  "  to  the  church  ivhich  is  in  "  (1,  2  Cor.  Gal), 
(iv.)  In  all  the  later  letters  he  addresses  himself  "to  the  saints."  (v.)  He 
\\\fi\visi\\em.  " grace  and  peace"  in  all  but  the  Pastoral  Epistles  which  have 
"grace,  mercy,  and  peace." 


154-  The  Ejnstlcs. 

hopeful  trust  in  man,  hopeful  trust  in  God  !  We  know, 
for  instance,  what  a  factious,  conceited,  ungrateful,  unfaith- 
ful Church  was  that  of  Corinth  ;  yet  even  in  his  letters  to 
Corinth  St.  Paul  begins  by  thanking  God,  not  indeed  for 
their  moral  graces  (that  he  could  not  do),  but  at  least  for 
their  intellectual  gifts.  Even  to  them  he  says  that  "  his 
hope  of  them  is  steadfast."  These  "  thanksgivings "  are 
neither  an  insincere  compliment  nor  a  rhetorical  artifice 
(cajJtatio  hcncvoleniiae).  We  may  sec  in  them  the  bright 
virtues  of  Christian  hope.  Never  let  us  despair  of  ourselves  ; 
never  let  us  despair  of  others.  There  is  a  light  which  lighteth 
every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world  ;  we  may  dim  it  as 
with  the  darkness  of  the  mine  ;  Ave  may  make  it  burn  low 
as  in  the  vapours  of  the  charnel-house — but  quench  it  quite 
finally  and  utterly  Ave  cannot.  "  Our  lamps  are  gone  out," 
say  the  foolish  virgins  in  the  parable,  but  it  is  in  the  original 
not  "our  lamps  are  gone  out,"  but  our  lamps  are  being 
quenched,  are  going  out ;  and  even  then  they  are  bidden  not 
utterly  to  lose  heart,  but  to  go  to  buy  fresh  oil,  that  even 
for  them  at  last  their  care  may  be — 

"  Fixed  and  zealously  attent 
To  fill  their  odorous  lamps  with  deeds  of  light. 
And  hope  that  reaps  not  shame," 

6.  I  will  not  here  speak  specially  of  the  third  and  fourth 
divisions — the  doctrinal  and  the  practical  sections  of  St.  Paul's 
letters — because  the  special  aim  of  the  doctrinal  portion  varies 
in  each  Epistle ;  .  but  it  is  important  to  notice  how,  in  St. 
Paul's  view,  doctrine  and  practice  are  inseparably  blended. 
There  is  no  divorce  between  them ;  no  attempt  to  treat  either 
as  superfluous.  On  the  loftiest  principles  are  based  the 
humblest  duties  :  from  the  sublimest  truths  are  deduced  the 
simplest  exhortations.  One  swift  beat  of  the  wing  is  sufiicient 
to  carry  the  Apostle  from  the  miserable  factions  of  squabbling 
Corinth  to  the  sunlit  heights  of  Christian  charity,  and  like 
tlie  lark  whose  heart  and  eye,  even  in  its  highest  flight,  are 
with  its  nest  on  the  dewy  ground,  so  in  one  moment — as  in 


Final  Salutations.  155 

the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians — he  can  drop  at  will  from  the  thekpistles. 
most  heavenly  sj^heres  of  mystic  vision   to  the  commonest 
rules  of  Christian  intercourse  : — 

"  Type  of  the  wise,  who  soar,  but  never  roam, 
True  to  the  kindred  points  of  heaven  and  home." 

But  from  this  interweaving  of  doctrine  and  practice  we 
may  learn  a  great  lesson.  Does  it  not  teach  us  that  noble 
thoughts  make  noble  acts,  that  a  soul  occupied  with  great 
ideas  best  performs  the  smallest  duties ; — that,  as  has  well 
been  said,  "the  divmest  views  of  life  penetrate  into  its 
meanest  emergencies  "  ?  Nothing  less  than  the  Majesty  of 
God  and  the  powers  of  the  world  to  come  can  sustain  the 
sanctity  of  our  homes,  the  serenity  of  our  minds,  and  the 
patience  of  our  hearts  !  ^ 

7.  Even  the  final  salutations  have  their  own  deep  human 
interest.  In  themselves,  indeed,  there  is  nothing  specially 
sacred  about  them.  The  names  A.syncritus,  Phlegon, 
Hermas,  Olympas,  &c.  have  nothing  in  them  more  intrinsic- 
ally mysterious  or  important  than  the  names  of  Smith  and 
Jones.  Many  of  them  were  names  of  slaves  and  artisans, 
undistinguished  and  ordinary  persons.  Some  of  them,  like 
Tryphaena  and  Tryphosa  ("  the  wanton,"  "  the  luxurious  "), 
could  have  been  little  less  than  insulting;  Nereus,  Hermes, 
Phoebe  were  names  of  heathen  deities  in  whom  men  believed 
no  longer,  grotesquely  bestowed  on  slaves ;  Stachys  "  wheat- 
ear,"  Asyncritus  "  incomparable,"  Persis,  a  poor  slave-girl 
brought  from  the  Persian  slave-market — all  these  names,  even 
when  not  ridiculous,  involved  more  or  less  of  a  stigma.  They 
were  not  the  sort  of  names  which  were  borne  by  the  wise  and 
mighty  and  noble.  In  any  case  the  salutations  sent  to  these 
poor  persons  have  no  more  inherent  importance  than  the 
salutations  which  any  modern  clergyman  might  send  in  a 
letter  to  any  poor  pensioners  or  aged  widows  in  his  flock.  Felix 
Neff,  "  the  apostle  of  the  Hautes  Alpes,"  two  days  before 

^  "  Paulus  ad  Romam  xi  capitibus  fidem  fundit,  et  v  capitibus  deinde  mores 
superaedificat.  .  Sic  in  aliis  quoque  epistolis  fticit." — Luthee. 


156  The  Epistles. 

his  death,  "  being  scarcely  able  to  see,  traced  the  following 
lines  at  different  intervals,  in  large  and  irregular  characters, 
which  filled  a  page,  "Adieu,  dear  friend,  Andre  Blanc; 
Antoine  Blanc ;  the  Pelissiers  whom  I  dearly  love ;  Francjoia 
Dumont  and  his  wufe ;  Isaac  and  his  wife ;  Aime  Desbois, 
Emilie  Bonnet,  Alexandrine  and  their  mother ;  all,  all  the 
brethren  and  sisters  at  Mens.  Adieu,  adieu."  Now  this 
is  exactly  the  style  of  St.  Paul's  final  salutations ;  and  yet 
how  rich  are  they  in  value  and  interest  I 

They  illustrate  Paul's  affectionateness ;  his  honour  for 
women ;  his  respect  even  for  slaves ;  the  way  in  which  he 
esteemed  man  as  simply  man ;  his  nice  discrimination  of 
character.  They  are  interesting  too  for  the  immortality 
which  they  bestowed  on  those  obscure  and  humble  Christians 
whose  names,  though  they  were  less  than  nothing  to  the 
world,  were  eternally  inscribed  in  the  Lamb's  book  of  life.^ 
Very  interesting  too  is  that  autograph  message  and  benedic- 
tion which  the  Apostle  always  adds.  Afflicted  in  all^j^oba- 
bility  with  ophthalmia,  it  was  impossible  for  him,  without 
pain  and  difficulty,  to  write  his  own  letters.  He  therefore 
employed  the  aid  of  an  amanuensis.^  But,  partly  to  express 
his  own  personal  interest  in  the  last  few  words  of  blessing 
and  greeting,  partly  to  prevent  the  disgraceful  forgeries 
which    existed    even   at    that   early  time,  he    authenticated 

^  "  Tlieve  is  a  Book 

By  seraplis  writ  in  beams  of  heavenly  light, 
On  which  the  eyes  of  God  not  rarely  look, 
A  chronicle  of  actions  just  and  bright  ; 
There  all  thy  deeds,  my  faithful  Mary,  shino, 
And  since  thou  own'st  that  praise  I  spare  thee  mine." 

— CowrF.n. 
'  The  nse  of  an  amanuensis  partly  accounts  for  the  constant  ' '  we  "  which 
St.  Paul  interchanges  with  "  I."  Heroes  not  mean  to  make  tHose  \vliom  he 
associates  with  himself  in  the  opening  salutations  at  all  responsible  for  his 
words,  for  he  sometimes  uses  "  we  "  when  he  can  only  be  speaking  of  his  indi- 
vidual self  (1  Thess.  ii.  18  "we.  .  .  even  I,  Paul.")  The  use  of  "we"  ia 
partly  due  to  the  modesty  wliich  in  all  languages  dislikes  tlie  needless  promi- 
nence of  "I."  "We"  is  chiefly  characteristic  of  1,  2,  Thess.  In  2  Thess. 
tiie  only  passage  which  relapses  into  "  I "  is  ii.  5.  Silas  and  Timothy  are 
associated  with  him  in  1,  2  Thess.  Sosthenes  in  1  Cor.,  Timothy  in  2  Cor. 
Phil.  Col.  Philem.  Paul  writes  in  his  own  name  only  to  the  Romans  and 
Laodiceans  (Kph.),  whieli  Churches  lie  had  not  personally  visited. 


Autograph  Conclusions.  157 

every  letter  with  his  own  signature  and  written  benediction  the  epistles, 
and   thus  secured   to   future   ages   also   a   proof   that  they 
are  reading  the  words  of  him  who  was  indeed  "  a  vessel  of 
election."  ^ 

Such  then,  in  the  most  rapid  and  summary  view,  is  the 
general  structure  of  the  Epistles  of  the  New  Testament ;  and 
such,  in  the  briefest  possible  form,  suggested  rather  than 
worked  out,  are  some  of  the  lessons  which  that  structure 
suggests.  Any  one  who  will  read  the  Epistles  through,  each 
at  a  sitting,  to  verify  these  facts  will  more  and  more  realise 
what  a  hid  treasure  we  may  find  in  the  field  of  these 
sacred  letters.  We  may  thus  become  more  earnest,  more 
intelligent,  and  more  faithful  students  of  the  Book  of  God, 

^  St.  Paul  first  adopted  this  final  authentication  (yvwpKrfia)  or  badge  of  cogni- 
sance—in 2  Thess.  iii.  17  ;  and  implies  that  he  means  henceforth  to  use  it, 
(o  i(TTi  ariixilov  ev  irdarj  iniaToXfj). 

a.  In  1  Tliess.  1  Cor.  we  have  "  The  gi-ace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  be  with 
you  ;  "  to  which  the  word  '*  all "  is  added  in  2  Thess.  Eoni.  Phil. 

/3  In  Philem.  and  Gal.  we  have  "The  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  be 
with  your  spirit,"  ("brethren"  Gal.) 

y.  In  Col.  1,  2  Tim.  Tit.  "  Grace  be  with  you"  ("thee  ")  ("all"  Tit.) 

S.  Eph,  "  Grace  be  with  those  that  love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in 
sincerity." 

e.  2  Cor.  "The  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  nnd  the  love  of  God,  and 
the  fellowship  of  the  Holy  Gliost  be  with  you  all." 

On  authenticating  signatures  see  Cic.  Ad.  Att.  viii,  1  ;  Suet.  Tib.  21,  32. 


l^y  The  Epistles 


NOTE 

ON   EAFvLY   CHRISTIAN   rSEUDEriGRAPHT. 

Pseudepigrapliy— tlie  adoption  of  an  honoiired  name  -whicli  was  not 
tlie  name  of  the  author — was  common  in  ancient  Jewish  literature.  It 
must  not  be  called  by  the  hard  name  of  literary  forgery.  In  many  in. 
stances  it  was  not  at  all  intended  to  deceive.  A  man  wrote  in  the  name 
of  some  great  and  well  known  person  because  he  desired  to  call  attention 
to  what  he  had  to  say  ;  because  he  desired  to  claim  the  sanction  of  high 
authority  ;  because  he  believed  his  teaching  to  be  in  accordance  with 
that  of  the  writer  whose  name  he  assumed.  It  is  (for  instance)  extremely 
unlikely  that  the  Alexandrian  author  of  the  Book  of  Wisdom,  intended 
for  a  moment  that  any  one  should  be  misled  to  suppose  that  the  old 
Jewish  king  was  the  actual  author  of  the  book  which  he  called  The 
Wisdom  of  Solomon.  He  simply  wrote  in  the  person  of  Solomon,  be- 
cause the  pseudepigrapliy  furnished  him  with  a  convenient  and  recognised 
form  of  sapiential  literature. 

Of  this  kind  of  pseudepigraphy  we  have  many  instances  in  early 
Christian  literature  ;  such  as  the  Epistle  of  Barnabas  (if  "Barnabas" 
was  meant  to  be  *'  the  Apostle  ")  ;  the  Gospels  of  James,  of  Thomas,  of 
the  Twelve  Apostles ;  the  Testaments  of  the  Twelve  Patriarchs  ;  the 
Acts  of  Thomas,  Thaddaeus,  Andrew,  Philij?,  John  ;  letters  ascribed  to 
Ignatius  ;  the  Clementine  Homilies  and  Recognitions  ;  the  Apostolic 
Constitutions  ;  and  hundreds  more,  of  which  many  are  extant. 

But  some  of  those  were  not  merely  pseudepigraphical.  There  are 
very  early  traces  of  downright  forgery.  In  2  Thess.  ii.  2,  St.  Paul  more 
than  hints  that  some  letter  had  reached  the  Thessalonians,  which  pur- 
ported to  come  from  him,  or  at  least  to  express  his  sentiments,  by  which 
they  had  been  misled  ;  and  it  is  against  this  danger  of  having  his  views 
misrepresented  that  he  put  them  on  their  guard  by  the  promise  to  add  an 
autograph  conclusion  to  every  letter  of  his  (2  Thess.  iii.  17).  Again,  in 
2  John  12,  St.  John  seems  to  express  some  di-slike  to  epistolary  com- 
munion where  personal  intercourse  could  be  had  ;  and  in  3  John  9,  he 
hints  (apparently)  that  letters  might  be  withheld  or  otherwise  tampered 
with  (see  Ewald,  Sendschreiben,  p.  51).  Hence  St.  Paul  "adjures"  the 
Thessalonians  "by  the  Lord"  that  his  letter  be  read  to  the  entire 
community. 

There  is  something  startling  in  the  solemnity  of  the  curse  with  which 
St.  John  tries  to  deter  any  one  from  attempting  to  curtail  or  interpolate 
his  Apocalypse.  But  early  Christian  history  shows  that  the  adjuration 
was  very  necessary.     Dionysius  of  Corinth  {aj).  Euseb.  H.  E.  iv.  23) 


Forgeries.  159 

deplores  the  falsification  of  his  own  letters.  So  too  Irenaeus  ends  one  of 
his  books  with  an  adjuration  to  the  copyists  "  by  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
and  by  His  glorious  coming  to  judge  the  quick  and  dead '"  to  compare 
and  carefully  correct  their  copies  by  their  exemplar,  and  likewise  to  place 
this  adjuration  in  their  copies  {0pp.  1,  821,  ed.  Stieren).  A  similar 
passage  is  found  at  the  end  of  Rufinus's  prologue  to  his  version  of 
Origen  De  Pr'uicipiis  (Huidekoper,  Judaism  at  Rome,  p.  289). 

There  was  even  a  forged  letter  purporting  to  be  addressed  by  our  Lord 
to  Abgarus,  king  of  Edessa. 

There  are  spurious  letters  of  Paul  to  the  Laodiceans,  and  another 
Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  preserved  in  the  Armenian  ;  and  a  spurious 
correspondence  of  Paul  and  Seneca. 

Among  other  Fathers  Origen  suffered  severely  from  the  falsification  of 
his  writings. 

Even  in  modern  times  the  danger  has  not  wholly  ceased.  The  glaring 
and  wretched  sermon  of  a  Spanish  Jesuit  Nieremberg  on  "  the  Pains  of 
Hell "  is  often  attributed  (even  by  Mr.  Lecky  and  Mr.  Alger)  to  Bishop 
Jeremy  Taylor. 


ST.  PAUL'S  THIRTEEN  EPISTLES. 

2k6uos  €K\oyT]s. — Acts  ix.  15. 

UavKos  yevS/JUVos  fxiyiffTOS  viroypaaixis. — S.  ClEM.  Uom. 

Ei  KoJ  IlavKos  V  O''^^'  &vOpuiros  ^v. — Sr.  CURYS. 

"  Andovvi  poi  lo  vas  d'elezione 
Per  recarno  conforto  a  quella  Fede 
Ch'  ^  priucipio  alia  via  di  salvazione. " 

Dante,  Inf.  ii.    8. 

"  Jlonstrava  I'altro^  la  contraria  cuia 
Con  una  spada  *  lucida  ed  acuta 
Tal  clie  di  cjua  del  rio  mi  fe'  ])aura." 

Furgatorio,  xxix.  139. 

"  Rearing  a  sword  wliose  glitterance  and  keen  edge, 
E'en  as  I  viewed  it,  with  the  flood  between. 
Appalled  me." — Caky. 

"  The  divine  assurance  of  the  old  prophets,  the  Qll-transccnding  glory  and 
si)iritual  presence  of  the  eternal  Lord,  and  all  the  art  and  culture  of  a  ripe 
and  wonderfully  excited  age,  seem  to  have  joined,  as  it  were,  in  bringing 
forth  the  new  creation  of  these  Epistles  of  the  times,  which  were  destined  to 
last  for  all  the  times."— Ewald. 


"  Even  as  our  beloved  brother  Paul  also,  according  to  tlie  wisdom  given 
unto  him,  liath  written  unto  you  ;  as  also  in  all  his  Epistles  speaking  in  them 
of  these  things."— 2  Pet.  iii.  15,  16. 

THE  EPISTLES.      We  profcss  to  iGgard  the   Bible  as  the  one  sacred  book. 

We  profess  to  derive  from  it,  ahiiost  exclusively,  the  doctrines 

of  our  faith,  and  the  rules  of  our  conduct.     We  turn  to  it  in 

hours  of  temptation ;  Ave  find  in  it  the  songs  of  our  purest 

'  St.  Paul.  «  The  Epistles. 


Epistles  of  St.  Paul.  IGl 

rejoicing;  the  memory  of  the  dead— (to  quote  well-known 
words) — passes  into  it;  the  potent  traditions  of  childhood 
are  stereotyped  in  its  verses ;  it  speaks  to  us  with  a  music 
that  can  never  be  forgotten  ;  we  read  it — (and  seem  as  if  we 
could  read  nothing  else) — by  the  bedsides  of  the  dying,  and 
over  the  graves  of  our  beloved.  Yet  how  many  of  us  even 
apy.roximately  understand  it  ?  How  many  of  us  obtain  from 
this  one  Book  of  God  the  treasure,  and  the  joy,  and  the 
peace  which  we  might  obtain  from  it,  better,  and  in  larger 
measure,  than  from  all  the  books  which  fill  the  world  ? 

I.  In  this  discourse  we  shall  glance  generally  at  the 
Epistles  of  St.  Paul,  which  occupy  about  a  fourth  of  the 
New  Testament.  We  will  consider  in  outline  the  four 
clearly-marked  groups  into  which  they  fall,  and  point  out 
what  is  the  key-note,  the  dominant  conception,  the  central 
message,  of  each  one  of  those  thirteen  Epistles. 

1.  For  any  one  who  desires  to  gain  a  real  historical  con- 
ception of  their  meaning ;  and  of  the  vast  part  which  they 
play  in  the  development  of  Christian  doctrine,  the  first  thing 
necessary  is  to  ascertain  and  remember  their  chronological 
order.  It  has  been  a  real  misfortune  for  our  right  com- 
prehension of  them,  that,  during  all  these  centuries,  they 
have  been  arranged  in  our  Bibles  in  an  order  so  haphazard 
and  accidental.  It  is  specially  to  be  regretted  that  this 
defect  has  not  been  remedied  even  in  our  Revised  Version. 
It  may  be  slightly  doubtful  what  was  the  sequence  of  them 
in  one  or  two  small  details,  but  of  the  order  in  which  they 
fall  into  groups  there  is  no  doubt  whatever.  Nor  does  it 
even  admit  of  question  that  those  groups  differ  from  each 
other  in  their  general  characteristics.  No  one  doubts  that 
we  best  understand  the  mind,  the  character,  the  teachings  of 
any  author  when  we  study  his  writings  with  some  reference 
to  the  age  at  which,  and  the  order  in  which  he  wrote  them. 
Most  of  all  is  this  desirable  in  the  case  of  one  who  was 
always  growing  in  grace,  and  in  the  knowledge  of  our  Lord 
and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  as  was  St.  Paul,  whose  thoughts, 

M 


THE  EPISTLES. 


1G2  The  Ephtles. 

THE  EPISTLES,  under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  went  on  deepening 
and  expanding  even  to  his  death.  Take  the  case  of  any 
secuhar  writer.  The  importance  of  observing  the  chronology 
of  his  works  is  greater  in  proportion  to  his  greatness.  What 
sliould  we  think  of  an  edition  of  Shakespeare  which  led  us 
to  imagine  that  he  wrote  the  Two  Gentlemen  of  Verona,  or 
Love's  Labour  s  Lost  in  his  maturest  age,  or  that  he  wrote 
Llamlet  and  Julius  Caesar  when  he  was  a  mere  youth  ?  What 
should  we  think  of  an  editor  of  Milton  who  left  us  to  suppose 
that  the  Samson  Agonistes  was  written  at  College,  and  the 
Lycidas  when  he  was  a  blind  old  man  ?  But  if  the  bearing 
of  a  man's  life,  and  spiritual  growth  upon  his  writings  be 
impoi-tant  in  such  a  case,  it  must  (except  on  the  most 
mechanical  and  unscripturally  superstitious  dogma  about 
"  verbal  dictation")  be  infinitely  more  so  when  those  writings 
are  among  the  sacred  books  of  God's  final  revelation.  And 
yet  we  continue  to  jilace  first  tlie  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  and 
we  arrange  even  the  Epistles  to  Ephcsus  and  Colossae  before 
those  to  the  Thessalonians  which  were  written  at  least  ten 
,  years  earlier,  and  are  in  fact  the  earliest  books  of  the  whole 
New  Testament,  And  this  chance  order  is  merely  due  to  the 
supposed  importance  of  the  Churches  addressed.  Tlie  letters 
to  the  Romans  and  Corinthians  are  put  first  (apparently) 
because  Rome  and  Corinth  were  large  and  important  cities. 
But  such  a  method  of  arrangement,  it  need  hardly  be  said, 
is  no  method  at  all. 

2.  Many  years  of  the  Apostle's  ministry  elapsed  before  he 
wrote  a  single  line  that  has  come  down  to  us.  He  was 
converted  probably  about  the  age  of  thirty.  His  first  letter 
(the  First  to  the  Thessalonians)  was  not  written  till  his 
second  great  missionary  journey,  when  he  was  forty-six  years 
old.  All  his  letters  fall  into  four  distinct  groups,  separated 
from  each  other  roughly  by  a  period  of  four  or  five  years 
each,  and  covering  a  space  in  his  life  from  the  age  of  forty- 
six  to  the  age  of  sixty-one.  Those  four  groups  are  the 
letters  of  his  second  missionary  journey,  namely  the  two  to 


Groiqjs  of  St.  Paul's  Epistles.  163 

Thessalonica ;  ^  those  of  the  third  missionary  journey,  the  this  epistles. 
Epistles  to  the  Corinthians,  Galatians,  and  Romans ;  those 
of  the  first  imprisonment  at  Rome — namely,  the  four  to 
Pliilippi,  Ephesus,  Colossae,  and  Philemon ;  and  those  be- 
tween his  liberation  and  his  martyrdom,  namely,  the  letter 
to  Titus,  and  the  two  to  Timothy,  of  which  the  last  was  written 
in  his  last  Roman  imprisonment  and  when  he  was  expecting, 
almost  daily,  the  stroke  of  death. 

3.  A  rapid  sketch  will  suffice  to  show  the  events  in 
St.  Paul's  hfe  which  coincide  with  the  writing  of  these  letters, 
and  also  to  point  out,  first  the  general  characteristic  of  each 
of  the  four  groups,  and  then  the  dominant  thought  of  each 
separate  Epistle. 

(i.)  The  first  group,  those  to  Thessalonica,  are  the  Escliato- 
logical  Epistles  ;  those  that  is,  which  bear  on  the  last  things  ; 
the  Epistles,  as  they  may  be  called,  of  the  Second  Advent ; 
of  Christ's  personal  return  to  glorify  the  saints  and  to  judge 
His  foes. 

A  glance  at  St.  Paul's  life  will  show  how  natural  it  was 
that,  at  the  period  in  which  the  Apostle  wrote  them,  such 
thoughts  should  fill  the  entire  horizon  of  his  mind.  Con- 
sider what  he  had  endured  !  Beginning  as  a  Pharisee  and  a 
persecutor — appearing  first  on  the  scene  as  the  young  man 
at  whose  feet  the  witnesses  laid  their  clothes  while  they  were 
stoning  St.  Stephen — he  had  been  grasped  by  a  resistless 
hand  as  he  went  to  Damascus  to  hale  Christian  men  and 
women  to  prison,  and,  by  one  flash  of  Christ's  light  into  his 
erring  but  noble  heart,  he  had  been  made  "  a  fusile  Apostle." 
Thenceforth,  with  the  exception  of  brief  retirements  in 
Arabia  and  Tarsus,  his  life  had  been  one  long  martyrdom. 
In  a  basket,  by  night,  down  the  wall,  he  had  escaped  from  a 
l^lot  to  murder  him  at  Damascus  ;  another  such  jDlot  had 
driven  him  from  Jerusalem ;  another  from  Antioch  in  Pisidia ; 

^  It  is  a  curious  circumstance  that  St.  Paul  either  never  wrote  to  the 
Churches  founded  in  his  first  journey,  or  that  his  letters  are  no  longer  extant. 
It  has  been  ingeniously  conjectured  that  he  left  those  Churches  to  the  care  of 
Barnabas. 

M    2 


1G4  The  Ejnstlcs. 

another  from  Iconium.  At  Lystra  he  had  been  actually 
stoned  and  left  for  dead.  Tlien,  not  to  mention  all  hia 
troubles,  from  enemies  without  and  false  brethren  within, 
and  all  the  agitating  scenes  which  he  had  gone  through  at 
the  Syrian  Antioch  and  Jerusalem  in  his  defence  of  the 
liberty  of  the  Gentiles — in  his  second  mission  tour  he  had 
been  seized  with  illness  in  Galatia;  had  been  worn  with 
long  journeys  over  the  wild,  cold  hills  and  glaring  uplands 
of  Asia ;  had  been  scourged,  and  imprisoned,  and  shame- 
fully entreated  at  Philippi ;  had  nearly  fallen  a  victim 
to  mob  violence  at  Thessalonica ;  had  been  hunted  from 
Berea;  had  been  derided  at  Athens;  had  been  arrested  at 
Corinth.  And  all  this,  besides  insults,  and  controversies,  and 
anxieties,  and  perils  from  murderers  and  brigands,  from 
shipwreck  and  river  floods,  in  the  city,  in  the  wilder- 
ness, in  the  sea.  Can  you  wonder  that  after,  and  in 
the  midst  of,  scenes  like  these,  the  one  thought  pro- 
minent in  his  mind — the  sole  thought  that  inspired  and 
sustained  him — was  this — "  All  this  is  but  for  a  little  time. 
Soon  shall  the  Lord  return  again ; "  and  that,  when  he 
reached  Corinth  from  Athens,  this — the  near  coming  of 
Christ — was  the  thought  which  fdled  his  first  two  extant 
letters,  the  two  to  his  beloved  Thessalonians  ?  There  could 
be  no  more  natural  topic  of  consolation  in  letters  from  the 
persecuted  Apostle  to  his  persecuted  converts. 

(ii.)  Yet,  hard  as  had  been  his  lot  hitherto,  a  still  more 
troubled  phase  of  his  life  was  to  begin  ; — a  phase  when  he  was 
burdened  beyond  measure  ;  when  he  "  fought  with  beasts  "  at 
Ephesus ;  when  he  seemed  to  be  dying  daily,  amid  fightings 
without  and  fears  within.  If  his  delicate,  nervous  frame  had 
been  torn  by  Jewish  thongs,  and  Roman  rods,  and  crushing 
stones,  his  sensitive  and  shrinking  soul  had  to  endure  an 
equal  or  perhaps  severer  martyrdom  from  anathema,  and 
calumny,  and  the  oppression  of  a  perpetual  hissing.  It  had 
come  home  to  him  in  his  first  great  journey  that  the  Gospel 
was  a  Gospel  of  liberty ;  that  the  Gentiles  were  not  to  be 


Second  Group.  iGo 

bound  by  tlic  yoke  of  the  Levitic  law;  that  though  Judaism,  the  epistles. 
had  been  the  cradle  of  Christianity  it  was  not  to  be  suffered  to 
be  its  grave.  He  was  already  despised  by  the  Gentiles  as  an 
enthusiast ;  detested  by  the  Jews  as  an  apostate  ;  but  now 
he  had  to  accept  the  additional  burden  of  hatred  and  sus- 
picion even  from  many  Jewish  Christians.  They  organised 
something  like  a  counter-mission  against  him  ;  they  led  back 
his  foolish  Galatians  to  rites  and  ceremonies ;  they  maligned 
his  name  and  undermined  his  authority  among  the  restless, 
conceited,  and  turbulent  Corinthians ;  they  even  tried  to 
jwison  against  him  the  minds  of  the  Christians  at  Rome. 
Hence  the  second  group  of  letters,  written,  during  his  third 
journey,  at  Ejjhesus  and  Corinth,  are  St.  Paul's  four  most 
powerful,  most  argumentative,  most  impassioned  Epistles. 
They  were  wrung  from  him  at  the  period  of  most  vehement 
storm  and  stress  in  his  life,  under  great  mental  anxiety  and 
physical  suffering.  This  second  group  consists  of  the  letters 
to  the  Corinthians,  Galatians,  and  Romans.  They  may  be 
characterised  as  the  letters  of  controversy  with  Judaism — • 
Judaism  from  within  and  from  without — whether  as  disturb- 
ing his  Churches,  impugning  his  avithority,  enjoining  circum- 
cision, or  insisting  on  Mosaic  ordinances,  Avhich  did  but  nullify 
the  effects  of  the  death  of  Christ.  The  first  three  are  marked 
by  all  the  vehemence  and  agony  of  eager  warfare ;  the  last 
is  a  calmer  and  more  comprehensive  review  and  statement 
of  the  results  attained.  The  doctrinal  and  universal  import- 
ance of  these  four  Epistles  can  hardly  be  exaggerated.  The 
particular  details  of  the  controversy  are  obsolete.  The  then 
"  burning  questions "  have  "  burnt  themselves  out."  The 
flames  of  heated  discussion  about  circumcision  and  "tongues" 
are  now  not  even  as  the  tails  of  smoking  fii^ebrands.  But 
the  principles  developed  ai'e  eternal.  In  them  St.  Paul  fought 
out  and  won,  for  all  time,  the  battle  of  full  and  free  salvation  ; 
of  faith,  as  against  works ;  of  mercy,  as  against  sacrifice  ;  of 
the  obsolescence  not  only  of  Levitism  itself,  but  of  the  whole 
sacerdotal  spirit.     He  showed  for  ever  that  the  true  worship 


IGG  The  Epistles. 

THE  EPISTLES,  of  tliG Cliiistian  consists  in  spirituality,  not  in  ceremonialism; 
in  heart  service,  not  in  outward  ritual ;  in  the  religion  of  the 
life,  not  in  forms  of  service;  in  being,  not  in  doing;  in  love, 
not  in  orthodox  formulae,  or  rubrical  niceties,  or  sacrificial 
vestments,  or  sacramental  theories.  In  these  letters  we  have 
the  grandest  phase  of  the  struggle  of  the  teaching  of  the 
prophets  against  the  usurpation  of  the  priests  ;  the  proofs  of 
the  groundlessness  and  nullity  of  all  those  persecuting  tyran- 
nies and  of  all  that  theological  intolerance  which  spring 
from  the  pride  and  ambition  of  the  human  heart. 

(iii.)  After  the  Ejoistle  to  the  Romans,  which  was  the  last  of 
this  great  group,  nearly  five  years  elapse  before  we  come  to 
the  third  group.  Again  escaping  from  a  jDlot  to  murder  him 
at  Corinth,  he  made  his  Avay  to  Jerusalem  in  the  voyage  so 
graiihically  described  for  us  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  He 
went  overland  to  Macedonia,  spent  Easter  at  Philippi,  restored 
Eutychus  in  the  memorable  miilnight  service  at  Troas,  made 
that  touching  farewell  speech  to  the  Ephesian  elders  at 
Miletus,  and  then  we  trace  his  barque  over  the  blue  waters 
of  the  iEgcan  as  it  threaded  its  way  among 

"  The  sprinkled  ii:les, 
Lily  on  lily  that  o'eilace  tlie  sea, 
Anil  laugh  their  pride  when  the  light  wave  lisps  Greece," 

till  he  reached  the  kind  friends  with  whom  he  knelt  in  tears 
and  prayer  on  the  sea-shore  of  Tyre.  Then  he  stayed  for 
some  days  in  the  house  of  Philip  at  Caesarea,  with  the  virgin 
prophetesses  his  daughters,  and,  amid  warnings  of  peril  and 
imprisonment,  continued  dauntlcssly  on  his  journey  to  Jeru- 
salem. Nearly  torn  to  pieces  by  the  mob  in  the  Temple, 
nearly  flagellated  by  the  hasty  but  honest  Lysias,  rescued 
from  the  rage  of  the  Sanhedrin,  and  the  murderous  plot  of  the 
Sicarii,  he  was  hurried  in  the  night  by  an  armed  escort  to 
Caesarea,  There  he  was  imprisoned  for  two  dreary  years. 
He  was  tried  before  Felix,  tried  before  Festus,  tried  before 
Agrippa.  Agitated  by  these  scenes,  in  which  the  fury  and 
Ijcrtiuacity  of  his  assailants  had  become   more    and    more 


Third  and  Fourth  Groups.  167 

clear,  he  appealed  to  Caesar,  hoping  to  find  some  protection  the  epistles, 
from  provincial  bribery  and  injustice  in  the  stern  majesty  of 
Roman  law.  In  consequence  of  this  appeal  he  was  forced  to 
journey  amid  months  of  storm  and  shipwreck  to  Rome, 
There,  chained  by  the  wrist  to  a  soldier  day  and  night,  he 
remained  in  custody  for  two  years  more,  and  there  he  wrote 
his  third  group  of  letters.  They  also  are  four  in  number  :  the 
two  to  the  Philippians  and  Philemon,  dictated  by  personal 
affection  and  special  incidents — and  the  two  great  Christolo- 
gical  Epistles — those  to  Ephesus  and  Colossae — in  which,  to 
counteract  a  dreamy,  subtle,  incipient  heresy,  he  develops  and 
expands,  in  all  its  splendour,  the  doctrine  of  the  Prae- 
existence,  the  Divinity,  the  Eternal  Headship  and  Supremacy 
of  our  Risen  and  Ascended  Saviour  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

(iv.)  Some  four  years  again  elapse  during  which  he  wrote  his 
fourth  and  last  group  of  letters — the  three  Pastoral  Ej^istles, 
Liberated  just  in  time  to  escape  martyrdom  in  the  Neronian 
persecution,  he  again  travelled  to  Asia  Minor  and  Western 
Greece,  It  was  at  some  time  during  the  wanderings  which 
followed — wanderings  which,  unhappily,  no  Luke  has  recorded 
for  us — that  he  wrote  his  letter  to  Titus  whom  he  had  left  to 
govern  the  Church  of  Crete ;  and  the  first  to  Timothy,  who 
was  acting  as  his  delegate  at  Ephesus.  Then,  once  more 
arrested,  and  sent  to  a  second  Roman  imprisonment — aged, 
lonely,  worn-out,  forsaken,  daily  expecting  death — he  penned 
his  last  brave,  bright  words  to  his  dearest  convert  and  com- 
panion, the  beloved  and  gentle  Timotheus.  Almost  imme- 
diately afterwards  he  was  put  to  death.  He  was,  in  all 
probability,  led  out  along  the  Ostian  Road,  and  there,  in  a 
scene  so  lonely  and  so  obscure,  that  scarcely  even  the  faintest 
gleam  of  tradition  has  fallen  on  it — there,  at  the  close  of  a 
life  which  the  world  would  have  called  a  hopeless  and  dis- 
astrous failure,  but  which  has  been  crowned  by  the  Lord, 
whose  cross  he  bore,  with  everlasting  victory,  and  the  love  of 
all  generations — the  sword  flashed,  and  the  life  of  one  of  the 
noblest  of  the  sons  of  God  was  shorn  away. 


1G8  The  Episilea. 

THE  EPISTLES.  II.  Siioli  tlicQ  RFG  tlic  fouF  gToups  of  Epistlcs :  the  first 
two  mainly  Eschatological ;  the  next  four  mainly  controver- 
sial ;  of  the  next  four,  two  occasional,  and  two  Christological ; 
the  last  three  Pastoral. 

But,  further,  every  one  of  these  thirteen  Epistles,  of  wliich 
we  have  thus  seen  the  order,  has  its  own  S2)ccial  characteristic, 
its  prominent  idea — generally  its  central  passage,  often  even 
its  dominant  word  or  key-note. 

a.  The  first  group — those  to  the  Thessalonians — were,  we 
said,  the  Eschatological  group — the  Ej^istles  of  the  Second 
Advent. 

The  first  is  characterised  by  its  extreme  sweetness ;  both 
are  eminently  full  of  consolation.  The  whole  idea  of  the  first 
is — look  to  Christ  as  a  comfort  in  tribulation.  ^laranatha 
— the  Lord  is  near. 

The  second  was  written  to  correct  the  eiTor  that  Christ's 
coming  would  be  instantaneous,  and  to  obviate  the  neglect  of 
daily  earthly  duties  which  sprang  from  that  exciting  expecta- 
tion. Its  most  characteristic,  and  indeed  all  but  unique, 
section  is  that  in  the  second  chapter  about  the  Apostasy  and 
the  Man  of  Sin. 

/3.  The  second  group  is  the  Anti-Judaic  group — the  group 
of  controversy — written  in  the  great  period  of  distress  and 
conflict.  The  First  to  the  Corinthians  is  the  Epistle  of  Church 
Discipline.  It  decides  by  great  principles  the  little  details 
of  life  and  Avorship.  Its  fundamental  idea  is  Christian  unity ; 
and  its  chief  passages — the  unparalleled  13th  and  loth 
chapters— in  one  of  which  the  Apostle  develops  his  magni- 
ficent argument  for  the  Resurrection,  and  in  the  other,  like 
some  great  poet,  "  with  his  garland  and  singing  robes  about 
him,"  pours  forth  his  ins^Dired,  impassioned  paean  to  the  glory 
of  Christian  love. 

The  Second  to  the  Corinthians  falls  into  two  main  divi- 
sions. The  key-note  of  the  first  nine  chapters  is  consolation 
in  sorrow ;  that  of  the  other  chapters  is  boasting — the  boast- 
ings  of  his  adversaries  which  drove  him  into  a  "  boasting  " 


Key  Notes  of  the  Epistles.  169 

which  would  have  been  abhorrent  to  him  had  it  not  been  that  the  ei-istles. 
his  boast  was  in  bis  infirmities  and  in  the  Cross  of  Christ  his 
Lord.  The  Epistle  is  specially  marked  by  its  intense  emo- 
tion; it  is  fidl  of  haunting  words — now  "tribulation,"  now 
"  commendation,"  now  "  boast."  It  is  the  Epistle  of  personal 
details ;  the  A'pologia  pro  vita  sua  of  the  great  Apostle. 

In  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians  we  find  him  again  in  a  far 
different  mood.  It  is  the  Epistle  of  indignant  warning;  the 
only  Epistle  which  he  wrote  throughout  with  his  own  hand.  ^ 

It  is  his  gage  of  defiance  to  the  Judaists;  his  triumphant 
note  of  exultation  over  abrogated  ordinances  and  freedom 
perfected.  Here,  more  than  in  all  the  rest,  as  Luther  said, 
"  meras  Jlammas  loquitur  !  " — "  he  speaks  mere  flames  ! " 

In  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  the  same  theme — ^justifica- 
tion by  faith  and  not  by  works ;  the  universality  of  sin  and 
the  universality  of  grace — is  again  developed  in  its  positive 
rather  than  its  antithetic  aspect.  The  theme  is  handled 
doctrinally  and  systematically,  not,  as  in  the  Galatians,  with 
impassioned  controversy,  but  with  irresistible  logic  and  calm 
and  sympathetic  strength. 

7.  St.  Paul  had  gone  through  much  by  the  time  we  come 
to  the  third  group.  It  is  the  Christological  and  Anti-Gnostic 
group.  In  personal  force  he  was  a  shattered  man.  He  was 
calmer,  he  was  sadder,  he  was  yet  wiser  ;  he  sat  thinking  and 
praying  in  his  lonely  prison.  Yet  the  key-note  of  the  Philip- 
pians  is  joy.  There  is  one  little  outburst  of  anger  in  it,  but 
its  one  leading  thought — the  leading  thought  of  the  poor, 
suffering  prisoner,  so  full  of  gratitude  for  the  pecuniary  help 
which  the  Philippians  had  sent  to  him  is — "  Rejoice  in  the 
Lord  alway  ;  again  I  will  say,  Rejoice." 

The  key-note  of  the  Colossians  is  Christ  all  in  all ;  Christ 
Head  over  all. 

The  magnificent  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians  is  rich  in  many 
leading  thoughts.  It  is  the  great  Epistle  of  the  Church — 
the  Church  in  Christ.  It  is  the  Epistle  of  Catholicity ;  the 
Epistle  of  the  Ascension  ;  the  Epistle  of  the  Heavenlies  ;  the 


170  The  Epistles. 

TiiK  EPISTLES.  Eplstle  of  tliG  "  mystciy  "  and  "  riclies  "  of  the  Gospel.  Its 
key-note  is  grace. 

The  letter  to  Philemon  is  a  little  satellite  and  annex  to 
the  planet  of  the  Colossians.  It  is  a  letter  to  a  private 
Christian  gentleman,  to  ask  pardon  for  a  runaway  Laodicean 
slave. 

S.  In  the  last  group,  the  Pastoral  Epistles,  again  we  see  a 
change.  The  thunderstorms  of  continuous  controversy  seem 
to  have  rolled  far  into  the  distance.  The  foundations  of 
Christian  truths  have  been  laid  for  ever.  St.  Paul  is  writing 
to  Timothy  and  Titus  how  they  should  govern  the  Churches 
of  Ephesus  and  Crete.  Though  here  and  there  we  find  a 
grand  and  pregnant  summary  of  doctrine,  the  main  theme  is 
duty  not  doctrine,  ethics  not  theology,  the  holy  and  wise 
walk  of  a  Christian  pastor  in  the  guidance  of  his  flock. 

Lastly,  in  the  Second  to  Timothy,  we  have,  as  it  were, 
the  last  will  and  testament  of  Paul — "  the  song  of  the  dying 
SAvan  " — and  through  it  though  tliere  runs  the  old  man's  wail- 
ing undertone  to  his  beloved  discijjle — "  Come  to  me  ; " 
"  Come  quickly  ; "  "  Come  before  winter  ; "  "  Come  and  cheer 
me  a  little  ere  I  die  " — yet,  drowning  this  low  chord  of  sorrow, 
rings  the  paean  of  quenchless  hope  and  undaunted  trust,  as  to 
the  dear  but  timid  racer  he  hands  the  torch  of  the  Gospel, 
which  in  his  own  brave  grasp  no  cowardice  had  hidden,  no 
carelessness  had  dimmed,  no  storms  had  quenched. 

Wliat  an  inexhaustible  treasure  have  Ave  here  !  The  First 
and  Second  to  the  Thessalonians,  Epistles  of  the  Second 
Coming ;  the  First  to  the  Corinthians,  the  Epistle  of  Chris- 
tian unity  and  love ;  the  Second,  the  Epistle  of  consolation, 
and  a  glimpse  into  the  Apostle's  very  heart ;  the  Galatians, 
the  Epistle  of  Christian  liberty  ;  the  Romans,  of  justification 
by  faith ;  Philippians,  the  Epistle  of  joy  in  sorroAv ;  Colos- 
eians,  of  Christ  all  in  all ;  Ephesians,  of  Christ  in  His 
Church  ;  Philemon,  the  Magna  Charta  of  emancipation  ;  the 
First  to  Timothy  and  Titus,  the  pastor's  manual ;  the  Second 
to    Timothy,  the  Epistle    of   courage,  and   exultation,  and 


WealtJi  of  the  Epistles.  171 

tiiumpli  in  deep,  apparent  failure — of  victory  in  the  defeat  the  epistles. 

of  lonely  death.     Again,  I  say,  Avhat  a  treasure  have  we  here  ! 

May  we  go  to  it  to  learn  humility,  to  learn  tolerance,  to  learn 

duty,  to  learn  charity,  to  learn  that  man  is  our  brother,  to 

learn  that  God  is   love,  to  learn  that  Christ  died    for  our 

worst  enemies  no  less  than  for  ourselves.     If  we  fail  to  learn 

such  lessons  from  the  EiDistles  we  might  as  well  shut  them 

up  for  ever.     If  God  will  enlighten  the  eyes  of  our  hearts  by 

His  Holy  Spirit,  then  indeed  shall  we  know  His  Word  ;  find 

in  it  a  Urim  and  Thummim,  ardent  with  precious  stones,  and 

every  gem  of  it,  under  the  mystic  glory,  bright  with   the 

oracles  of  God. 


l> 


172  The  EiHstlcs. 


NOTE  I. 

ST.  Paul's  epistles. 

" Considerinj:;  llicsc  Epistles  for  tlicmselvcs  only,"  says  Ewald,  "and 
apart  from  the  -general  sii^'iiificance  of  the  great  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles, 
wo  must  still  admit  that,  in  the  whole  history  of  all  centuries  and  of 
all  nations,  there  is  no  other  set  of  writings  of  similar  extent,  which,  as 
creations  of  the  fugitive  moment,  have  proceeded  from  such  severe 
troubles  of  the  age,  and  such  profound  sutferings  of  the  author  himselfj 
and  yet  contain  such  an  amount  of  health  fulness,  serenity,  and  vigour 
of  immortal  genius,  and  touch  with  such  clearness  and  certainty  on  the 
very  highest  truths  of  human  aspiration  and  action.  From  the  smallest 
to  the  greatest  they  seem  to  have  proceeded  from  the  fleeting  moments 
of  this  earthly  life  only  to  enchain  all  eternity  ;  they  were  born  in 
anxiety  and  bitterness  of  human  strife  to  set  forth  in  brighter  lustre  their 
superhuman  grace  and  beauty." 


NOTE  II. 

Baur,  who  rejected  the  authenticity  of  all  St.  Paul's  Epistles  except 
four,  classifies  them  as  follows  : — 

1.  Ilomologoumena. — Four,     Those  of  the  second  group  (1,    2  Cor., 

Gal.,  Rom.), 
ii.  Aniiler/omeno,  or  of    uncertain   authenticity. — Six.      Namely, 

those  of  the  first  group  (1,  2  Thess.),  and  the  Epistles  of  the 

Captivity  (Phil.,  Eph.,  Col.,  Philem.). 
iii.  NotJta,  or  Spurious.     The  three  Pastoral  Epistles. 

2.  Renan  classes  them  as  follows  : — 

i.  Incontestably  geniiine.     1,  2  Cor.,  Gal.,  Rom. 

ii.  Authentic,  though  disputed.     1,  2  Thess.,  Phil. 

iii.  Probably  authentic,  though  doubtful.     Col.  and  Pliikiu. 

iv.  Probably  spurious.     Eplies. 

v.  Spurious.     Tlie  Pa.storal  Epistles.     1,  2  Tim.,  Tit. 

3.  They  may  be  arranged  according  to  their  form,  as  by  Rcuss  : — 
i.  Circular  letters.     Ephesians  and  Romans.^ 

'  Those  are,  rather  treatises  than  letters.  They  were  elaborate  statements 
intended  to  lie  read  liy  many  Churclies.  Some  MS.S.  Iravc  a  blank  for  the 
words  "in  Home"  (Rom.  i.  7),  "in  Ejihesu-s  "  (Kph.  i.  1). 


Chronology  of  the  Epistles.  173 

ii.  Letters  to  special  Churches.  Thessalonians,  1,2  Cor.,  Philippiuns,  the  epistles. 
Colossians,  and  Galatians.^ 

iii.  Letters  to  spiritual  friends. 

4.  Accepting  the  tliirteen  Epistles  of  St.  Paul  as  authentic,  and  also 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  St.  Thomas  Aquinas  made  an  ingeniously- 
elaborate  but  entirely  untenable  attempt  to  classify  them  by  the  grace 
of  Christ,  as  it  is  in  itself,  as  it  is  in  the  Sacraments,  and  with  regard  to 
its  effects.' 

5.  Olshausen's  classification  of  them  as  i.  Dogmatic  ;  ii.  Practical  ; 
iii.  Friendly,  is  inadec^uate  and  confusing. 

6.  Lange  classifies  them  very  well  as  : — 
i.  Eschatological.     1,  2  Thess. 

ii.  SoteriologicaL     Gal.,  Eom, 

iii.  Ecclesiastical,     a.  Polemically.     1  Cor. 

^.  Apologetically.     2  Cor. 
iv.  Christological.     Col.,  Eph. 
V.  Ethical     Phil, 
vi.  Pastoral  (or  rather  to  Individuals).     1,  2,  Tim.,  Tit.,  Philem. 


NOTE  in. 

CHRONOLOGY    OF   THE   EPISTLKS. 

The  approximate  dates  and  sequence  of  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul  are 
as  follows  ; — 

SECOND  MISSIONARY  JOURNEY. 
First  Group. — Eschatological. 

1  Thessalonians.     Late  in  a.d.  52.     Written  at  Corinth. 

2  Thessalonians.     A.D.  53. 

THIRD  MISSIONARY  JOURNEY. 
Second  Group. — Epistles  of  Judaic  Controversy. 

1  Corinthians,     a.d.  57  (early).     Written  at  Ephesus. 

2  Corinthians,     a.d.  58  (early).     Written  at  Philippi  (?). 
Galatians.     a.d.  58. ")  .__  .  ^    .    , 

Romans,     a.d.  58.    )  Written  at  Corinth. 

1  Some  of  the.se  (1,  2  Cor.,  Gal.)  were  addressed  to  little  groups  of  Churches 
ill  Anliaia,  Galatia,  &c. 

'^  See  a  paper  by  the  autlior  in  the  Expositor,  July,  1883. 


17-1.  The  Einsths. 

TUE  EPISTLES.  EPISTLES  OF  THE  FIRST  IMPRISONMENT. 

Third  Group. — Personal  and  Christological. 
Pliilippians.     circ.  a.d.  62.     Written  at  Rome. 

Colossians.  \      ,-.   .  r.  r-> 
\      circ.  A.D.  C3. 
rhilemon.    J 

Ephesians.     circ.  a.d.  6.3. 

EPISTLES   OF    CLOSING   YEARS. 
Fourth  Group. — Pastoral  E^nstles. 

1  Timothy,     a.d.  65  or  66.     Written  in  Macedonia  (?). 
Titus,     a.d.  66.     Written  in  Macedonia  (?). 

2  Timothy,     a.d.  67  or  68.     Written  in  Rome, 

The  following  dates  (of  which  some  can  only  be  approximate)  may 
be  found  useful  : — 

A.D. 

Gaius  (Caligula),  a.d.  37. 

St.  Paul's  conversion  and  martyrdom  of  St.  Stephen  .  37 

St.  Paul's  first  visit  to  Jerusalem 39 

Claudius,  a.d.  41. 

St,  Paul  summoned  from  Tarsus  to  Antioch    ....  41 

Famine.     Second  visit  to  Jerusalem 44 

First  Mission  journey 45 

Expulsion  of  Jews  from  Rome 49 

Third  visit  to  Jerusalem 51 

"  1  Thessalonians  " 52 

"  2  Thessalonians  " 53 

Nero,  a.d  54. 

Fourth  visit  to  Jerusalem 54 

"1  Corinthians" 57 

'•  2  Corinthians  " 58 

"  Galatians  " 58 

"Romans" 58 

St.  Paul  at  Rome 61 

"  Philippians  " 62 

"  Colossians  "  and  "  Philemon  " 63 

"Ephesians" 63 

Paul  liberated 63 

"  1  Timothy  " 64 

"Titus" 65  or  66 

"2  Timothy" 67 

Martyrdom 68 


THE 
FIRST   EPISTLE  TO  THE  TIIESSALONIANS. 

WRITTEN   FROM   CORINTH,   A.D.    52. 


"  He  came  who  was  the  Holy  Spirit's  vessel, 
Barefoot  and  lean.  "—Dante,  Farad,  xxi.  119. 

"  Habct  Jiaec  cpistola  meram  quandam  duJcedinem,  quae  lectori  dulcibus 
affectibus  non  assueto  minus  siipit  q^uam  caeterae  severitate  quadam  palatum 
stringentes." — Bengel. 

"Im  ganzer  ist  es  ein  Trostbrief. "— Hausrath,  K  Test.  Zeitcjeseh.  ii. 
299. 


"  Paul  and   Silvanus  and   Timotheus,    unto  the    Church  of   the    Thessa- 
louiaus." — 1  Thess.  i.  1. 

1.  At  tlie  nortli-western  angle  of  the  Archipelago,  the  ancient 

Aegean  Sea,  lies  the  beautiful  city  of  Saloniki,  an  important 

commercial  emporium  of  70,000  inhabitants.      Kising  with 

its  white  domes  and  minarets,  its  vines  and  cypresses,  up  the 

sides  of  a   steep   hill,  between  two   ravines,   it   presents   a 

splendid  appearance  as  the  traveller  sails  into  the  deep  blue 

waters  of  its  noble  bay,  and  gazes  from  it  upon  the  snowy 

mountain-crests  of   Olympus   and  Pelion.      But   when   you 

enter  the  town  all  its  beauty   disappears.      Its   streets  are 

tortuous,  filthy,  and  neglected,  like  those  of  most  towns  which 

are  blighted  by  the  curse  of  Islam.     It  is  oppressed  by  the 

greed,  withered  by  the  atrophy,  and  unsettled  by  the  fanaticism 

of  Turkish  misrule.     Known  in  old  days  as  "  the  Orthodox 

city,"  and  for  centuries  the  bulwark  of  Christendom  against 


176  The  E2nstlcs. 

1  iHKss.  the  Turks,  it  was  taken  by  Amurath  II.  in  1430,  and  the 
majority  of  its  70,000  inhabitants  are  now  Mohammedans  and 
Jews.  It  was  the  outbreak  of  rage  and  massacre  in  this  city 
in  the  year  187G  wliich  was  the  first  prominent  event  in  the 
later  phases  of  that  Eastern  question  which  lias  now  for  so 
long  a  period  engrossed  the  attention  of  the  civilised  world. 

2.  In  the  first  century,  Tlicssalonica,  the  ancient  Thermae, 
the  capital  of  Macedonia  Secunda,  and  the  residence  of  a 
Roman  Proconsul,  shared  with  Ephesus  and  Corinth  the  com- 
merce of  the  Aegean.  Into  this  busy  emporium,  1,800  years 
ago,  there  entered  by  the  great  Egnatian  road  three  travellers. 
One  was  a  grave  elder  from  Jerusalem,  another  was  a  timid 
^  and  youthful  deacon  from  the  bleak  highlands  of  Lycaonia,  the 
third  was  a  worn  and  suffering  Jew  of  Tarsus  The  names 
of  these  three  poor  wandering  missionaries  were  Silas, 
Timotheus,  and  Paul.  Two  of  them,  only  a  few  days  pre- 
viously, had  endured  a  terrible  flagellation  with  Roman  rods 
in  the  open  market-place,  and  had  then  been  thrust  into  the 
lowest  dungeons  of  Philippi,  from  which  they  had  been  saved 
by  a  manifest  interposition  of  Divine  power.  The  whole 
aspect  of  the  persecuted  wanderers  bespoke  their  poverty, 
their  sufferings,  and  their  earthly  insignificance.  Hated  as 
the  Jews  were  in  classical  antiquity,  it  is  probable  that  these 
wayworn  and  afflicted  wanderers  would  be  met  on  all  sides 
by  suspicious  glances  and  expressions  of  contempt.  Yet  their 
object  was  the  most  nobly  disinterested  which  it  is  possible  to 
conceive.  A  famine  was  at  that  time  raging  in  the  Roman 
empire,  and  the  commonest  necessaries  of  life  had  risen  to  six 
times  their  proper  value.  But  these  missionaries  had  deter- 
mined to  be  independent.  Their  first  object,  therefore,  was 
to  find  a  lodging  in  the  Jewish  quarter  and  the  means  of 
earning  their  daily  bread.  Paul,  the  most  worn,  the  most 
suffering  of  the  three,  had,  as  a  boy,  according  to  the  admir- 
able Jewish  custom,  learnt  a  trade.  It  was  the  humble 
mechanical  trade  of  weaving  the  black  goats'  hair  of  his 
native  province  into  tent-cloth ;  but  even  by  toiling  at  this 


Gentiles  at  Thessalonica.  177 

mean  occupation  night  and  day  he  could  barely  earn  sufficient 
for  their  common  maintenance,  and  but  for  a  kindly  contribu- 
tion from  his  converts  of  Philippi  the  three  devoted  Evan- 
gelists must  have  nearly  starved.  If  this  alone  had  not  been 
sufficient  to  damp  the  Apostles'  ardour,  it  might  well  have 
been  thought  that  the  peril  and  agony  of  their  recent  experi- 
ences in  Macedonia  would  at  least  have  induced  them  to  give 
up  all  thoughts  of  mission  effort.  But  their  hopes,  their  aims, 
were  not  selfish,  or  worldly,  or  commonplace.  They  were  not 
swayed  by  the  vulgar  motives,  the  narrow  domesticities,  the 
self-seeking  purposes  which  are  the  dominant  forces  in  all 
ordinary  lives.  The  first  three  Sabbaths  saw  them  duly  in 
the  Jewish  synagogue  delivering  their  dangerous  message  to 
angry  and  suspicious  Jews.  After  that,  seeing  in  all  pro- 
bability the  uselessness  of  such  appeals,  they  turned  from 
the  large  Jewish  community  and  worked  among  the  Gentiles. 

The  Gentiles  had  long  lost  all  practical  belief  in  the  Pagan 
religion.  Their  ancient  poets  had  imagined  that  awful  deities 
met  amid  the  clouds  that  rolled  over  "  the  azure  heights  of 
beautiful  Olympus ; "  but  now  men  had  long  grown  sceptical, 
and,  as  Cicero  had  sadly  said  when  he  was  an  exile  at  Thessa- 
lonica, he  saw  nothing  there  but  snow  and  ice.  But  the 
human  soul  cannot  live  in  a  vacuum.  Man  must  have  some 
belief  in  the  future  and  the  unseen  to  save  his  life  from  de- 
struction and  despair.  Hence  many  of  the  Gentiles,  and 
above  all  the  gentler  and  more  faithful  souls  of  Gentile 
women,  eagerly  embraced  the  message  of  a  Lord  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ. 

The  success  among  the  Gentiles  of  these  Jewish  teachers 
of  a  new  faith  kindled  among  the  Jews  a  bitter  jealousy.^ 
The  deadly  hatred  which,  with  incessant  plots  of  murder,  had 

^  That  the  church  of  Thessalonica  was  predominantly  Gentile  is  clear  from 
1  Thess.  i.  9,  10,  and  is  implied  in  Acts^xvii.  4,  if  we  read  "  and  of  the  prose- 
lytes and  of  the  Greeks  a  great  multitude  "  {rwiv  re  fff^oixeyoou  wal  'EW-liuajv, 
A.D.  Vulg.  Copt.  Lachmann,  Tregelles,  &c.).  ii.  That  they  were  a  stnall 
community  appears  from  ii.  11,  where  St.  Paul  speaks  of  exhorting  them  one 
hy  one  (tva  eKaarov  vijlwv),  (iii.)  That  they  were  mainly  slaves  and  artisans 
appears  from  iv.  11,  12. 

N 


178  The  Epistles. 

already  chased  Paul  from  city  to  city — from  Damascus,  from 
Jerusalem,  from  Antiocli  of  Pisidia,  from  Iconium,  from 
Lystra,  from  Philippi,  as  it  drove  him  afterwards  from  Beroea 
and  from  Corinth — broke  out  once  more  against  the  bearers  of 
the  glad  tidings  of  peace.  The  Jews  themselves  were  afraid  to 
act,  but  they  enlisted  in  their  bad  cause  the  services  of  "  cer- 
tain lewd  fellows  of  the  baser  sort " — the  rabble  which  can 
always  be  assembled  for  mischief  from  the  scum  of  great 
cities.  This  worthless  mob  set  the  city  in  an  uproar  and 
assaulted  the  house  of  Jason  in  which  the  missionaries  lived. 
The  rioters  were  too  late.  Their  intended  victims  had  received 
timely  notice  and  had  escaped  into  safe  concealment.  But  the 
mob  dragged  Jason  and  one  or  two  other  Christians  before 
the  magistrates.^  St.  Luke  calls  those  magistrates  "  poli- 
tarchs,"  a  name  which  is  not  found  in  a  single  ancient  author, 
and  which  would  certainly  have  been  set  down  as  a  blunder 
by  sceptical  criticism  but  for  the  happy  providence  which  has 
preserved  it  on  a  large  inscription  of  St.  Paul's  day,  and 
which  St.  Paul's  own  eyes  must  have  seen  carved  on  the 
entablature  of  a  triumphal  arch  which  once  spanned  the 
main  street  of  Thessalonica.  The  Turks,  with  their  usual 
disregard  and  ignorance,  recently  destroyed  this  arch;  but 
the  stones  on  which  ran  the  inscription  were  happily  pre- 
served by  our  British  consul,  were  shipped  to  England  during 
the  outbreak  of  1876,  and  are  now  safe  in  the  British 
Museum.  They  furnish  an  interesting  confirmation  of  the 
accuracy  of  the  Evangelist.  The  politarchs  made  Jason  and 
his  companions  give  bail,  and  since  their  mission  labours  were 
thus  rudely  disturbed,  Paul  and  Silas,  leaving  Timothy  to 
teach  the  converts  of  Thessalonica,  made  their  escape  secretly 


^  The  specific  charge  was  (practically)  lacaa  majcstas,  the  creation  of  disturb- 
ances by  proclaiming  "  a  ilili'erent  emperor  "  (JsTepov  fia<n\(a).  Christianity 
being  "  the  Gospel  of  the  kingdom  "  (Matt.  iv.  23,  &c.)  coxild  bo  easily  thus 
misrepresented.  St.  Paul  not  unfrequently  uses  the  term  kingdom  (1  Thess.  ii. 
12,  and  altogether  fourteen  times  in  his  Epistles) ;  but  the  obvious  danger  of 
misapprehension  prevented  the  Apostles  from  using  it  so  frequently  as  in  the 
Gospels  where  it  occurs  124  times.  Thessalonica  was  an  urbs  libera,  and  the 
Greek  cities  were  slavi-shly  loyal  to  the  Emjieror. 


The  Earliest  Christian  Writing.  179 

by  niglit.     Such  was  the  manner  in  which  Christ  had  been      l  tiiess. 
preached  in  the  Church  of  Thessalonica — the  second  Church 
founded  in  European  Christendom. 

3.  St.  Paul  felt  so  deep  an  interest  in  these  earlier  European 
Christians  that  in  his  absence  from  them  he  felt  like  a  man 
bereaved.^  He  longed  to  visit  them  again,  and  made  vain 
attempts  to  do  so  from  Beroea,  from  Athens,  and  from  Corinth. 
At  the  latter  city  Timothy  came  back  to  him,  and  while 
giving  a  most  favourable  account  of  the  Church  in  general, 
told  the  Apostle  two  special  facts  about  them.  The  one  was 
that  they  were  subjected  to  severe  persecutions  both  from 
Jews  and  Gentiles ;  the  other  that  many  of  them  were  deeply 
discouraged  by  the  deaths  of  some  members  of  their  little 
community,  who,  they  seemed  to  think,  would  be  terrible,  and 
perhaps  hopeless,  losers  from  not  having  survived  till  that 
second  advent  of  their  Lord,  whichr  all  Christians  at  that  day  ? 
supposed  to  be  immediately  imminent. 

4.  It  was  under  these  circumstances  that,  being  unable  to 
go  to  them  in  person,  Paul  determined  to  send  them  a  letter. 
It  Avas  his  twofold  object  to  console  them  under  persecution 
and  to  explain  the  groundlessness  of  their  lack  of  hope  about 
their  brethren  who  had  died  before  seeing  the  second  coming 
of  Christ.   With  a  heart  full  of  solicitude,  longing  to  guide  and  ^ 

comfort  them,  he  bade  Timothy,  who  had  just  arrived  from  his 
visit  to  them,^  to  sit  down  and  write  while  he  dictated.    Doubt- 
less he  would  have  written  a  letter  with  his  own  hand,  as  he 
did  to  the  Galatians,  but  the  chronic  weakness  of  his  eyesight         ? 
rendered  it  difficult  and  painful  for  him  to  do  so.     Whether 
that  letter — the  First  to  the  Thessalonians — was  the  first  he 
ever  wrote  we  do  not  know,  but  it  is  at  any  rate  the  first  that 
has  come  down  to  us ;  and  since  it  was  written  some  time 
before  the   Gospels,   in   reading   the   First    Epistle   to   the         r  , 
Thessalonians,  we  are  reading  the  oldest  book  of  the  New    ^o  -  \<^^ 
Testament,  the  earliest  document  of  the  Christian  religion,  0 

*  ii.  17.      Tififts  Se  aSeXcpol  awa)p<pavi(rdePTes  d(\)    tjfiuv. 
^  iii.  6.     &pTi  Si  i\d6vros  Tifio9fov  irpbs  rifias  d<j)'  vfiwp. 

N    2 


180  The  Epistles. 

the  first  extant  written  testimony  of  any  Cliristian  after  the 
death  of  Christ.  Surely  this  fact  alone  ought  to  give  to  this 
brief  letter  an  imperishable  interest.  What  a  moment  was 
that  in  the  religious  history  of  the  world  when  Paul  first 
began  to  entrust  to  the  fugitive  papyrus  words  which  were 
destined  to  possess  so  eternal  a  significance  ! 

5.  The  circumstances  under  which  the  little  letter  was 
written  explain  its  object.  We  can  without  difficulty  under- 
stand its  general  characteristics,  its  main  outline,  and  its 
special  lesson  for  ourselves. 

i.  Its  general  characteristics  can  be  explained  in  very  few 
words.  It  is  of  all  St.  Paul's  letters  the  gentlest.  There  is 
not  a  word  of  controversy  in  it.  It  is  written  almost  exclusively 
to  Gentiles,  and  hence  has  no  controversy,  no  difficult  reason- 
ing, no  developed  doctrine.  Its  style  is  unusually  simple. 
With  the  exception  of  one  very  severe  remark  about  the 
Jews  in  the  second  chapter,  it  is  marked  by  an  extreme  sweet- 
ness of  tone.  A  loving  fatherly  spirit  breathes  in  every  line. 
It  is  in  all  respects  a  letter  of  consolation.  Two  words  strike 
the  key-notes  of  its  two  most  important  sections — "  affiiction," 
"advent."  He  has  preached  to  them  in  affliction;  he  has 
warned  them  that  they  would  suffer  affliction,  and  that 
warning  has  been  fulfilled.  But  he  has  also  preached  to 
them  of  the  coming  of  Christ,  and  in  that  hope  all  soitow 
vanished ;  so  that  by  a  splendid  and  daring  paradox,  which 
was  not  a  rhetorical  figure  but  a  blessed  truth  unknown  to 
the  world  before,  they  had  received  the  word  in  tribulation, 
yet  with  joy — in  much  tribulation  yet  with  joy  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  That  joy  was  like  a  green  isle  of  peace  in  the  world's 
troubled  and  storm-swept  sea,  on  which  the  waves  might  beat, 
but  on  which  they  must  for  ever  beat  in  vain. 

ii.  Now  look  for  a  moment  at  the  outline  of  this  gentle 
letter  of  consolation.  It  will  be  seen  at  a  glance  that  it  falls 
into  two  main  divisions — one  personal  and  retrospective,  the 
other  practical  and  hortatory.  It  is  also  clear  that  it  has 
the  six  features  which  occur  in  nearly  all  St.  Paul's  letters  to 


The  Second  Advent.  181 

Churches,  namely :  (1)  the  greeting,  (2)  the  thanksgiving,  i  thess, 
(3)  a  doctrinal  section,  (4)  a  practical  section,  (5)  personal 
messages,  and  (6)  a  final  salutation.  In  this  Epistle,  how- 
ever, the  personal  and  the  practical  elements  prevail  through- 
out and  blend  with  each  other.  The  only  specially  doctrinal 
portion  is  that  from  iv.  13 — v.  11.  In  that  section  St.  Paul 
speaks  of  Christ's  advent  and  its  bearing  on  the  dead.  It 
should,  however,  be  carefully  noted  that  although  only  one 
doctrinal  topic  receives  full  treatment,  the  letter  abounds  with 
germs  of  thought  which  are  develoiaed  in  later  Epistles,^  and 
also  that  the  Christology  of  the  Epistle  implies  though  it 
does  not  elaborate  the  most  advanced  Christology  of  even  the 
Epistles  to  the  Colossians  and  Ephesians.^  The  first  three 
chapters  are  mainly  personal  and  historical,  the  last  two 
mainly  hortatory.  Each  division  ends  with  an  earnest  prayer. 
After  greeting  them  in  his  own  name  and  that  of  his  two 
fellow-missionaries,  he  thanks  God  that  the  news  of  their 
faith  had  sounded  like  a  trumpet-blast  (e^';'%??Tat)  throughout 
Macedonia,^  and  that  they  had  become  "  imitators  "  {fxifx'qraX) 
of  their  teachers  and  of  the  Lord.  The  second  chapter  is 
occupied  with  reminiscences  of  his  ministry  among  them  and 
their  hearty  response.  It  is  clear  that  calumny  had  been 
busily  at  work,  or  the  self-defence  of  this  chapter  would  not 
have  been  necessary.  Happily,  however,  the  missionaries — 
slandered  as  good  men  have  been  in  all  ages  of  the  world's 
history — needed  only  to  appeal  to  the  knowledge  of  their 
converts.^  Whatever  enemies  might  say,  the  Thessalonians 
knew  that  their  teachers  had  borne  no  resemblance  to  the 
mercenary  quacks  who  in  that  day  swarmed  throughout  the 
cities  of  the  empire ;  that  no  deceit,  no  avarice,  no  flattery, 

^  E.g.  1  Thess.  v.  8,  "the  annour  of  righteonsness " (Eph.  vi.  13-17)  ;  iv. 
16,  "the  trump  of  God"  (1  Cor.  xv.  52)  ;  1  Thess.  v.  12,  the  duty  towards 
ministers  (1  Cor.  ix.  2-15  ;  2  Cor.  xi.  8-10)  ;  self-defence  (1,  2  Cor.). 

•^  See  1  Thess.  i.  1  ;  iii.  11,  12  ;  v.  28. 

^  The  position  of  Thessalonica  as  a  much-frequented  commercial  city  is 
amply  sufficient  to  account  for  this  phrase. 

^  This  point  comes  out  remarkably  and  repeatedly,  i.  4,  "  Icnoiving."  ii. 
1 ,  "  for  ye  yourselves  know."  ii.  9,  "  for  ye  remember."  ii.  11,  "  even  as  ye 
know."    iii.  3,  "for  ye  yourselves  know."    iv.  2,  "  for  ye  know." 


182  The  Epistles. 

1  THEss.  no  subtcrranoan  motives  had  mingled  with  the  exhortations. 
They  knew  the  diligence,  the  unselfishness,  the  disinterested 
independence,  the  affectionate  enthusiasm  in  which  the  mission 
to  them  had  been  characterised.  And  the  Thessalonians  had 
believed  their  message,  and  in  spite  of  bitter  persecutions 
had  stood  fast  in  the  faith.  At  this  point  the  incidental 
mention  of  the  Churches  of  Judaea,  who  had  been  equally 
faithful  amid  similar  tribulations,  makes  St.  Paul  "  go  off  at  a 
word "  and  digress  into  a  severe  denunciation  of  the  Jews 
which  must  have  arisen  from  the  bitter,  though  momentary 
exacerbation  caused  by  their  conduct  towards  him  at 
Corinth.^  But  after  this  outburst  he  instantly  recovers 
his  calm  of  mind.  He  continues  to  thank  God  for  con- 
verts who  were  "his  glory  and  his  joy."  He  had  sent 
Timotheus  to  encourage  them,  since  he  had  himself  been 
twice  hindered  by  Satan  from  coming  to  them  in  jDcrson. 
That  dear  fellow-worker  with  God  had  brought  back  an 
almost  unexpectedly  encouraging  report  of  their  steadfastness, 
which  had  been  to  the  Apostle  amid  his  own  heavy  trials  a 
fresh  spring  of  life.  St.  Paul's  feelings  towards  his  little 
Churches  were  those  of  all  true  pastors  since.  "  Oh  how 
rich  a  prisoner  were  I,"  wrote  Samuel  Rutherford  to  his  flock 
at  Anworth,  "  if  I  could  obtain  of  my  Lord  the  salvation  of  you 
all !  My  witness  is  above :  your  heaven  would  be  two  heavens, 
and  the  salvation  of  you  all  as  two  salvations  to  me."  ^ 

The  third  chapter  ends  with  a  fervent  prayer  for  them,  and 

^  The  transient  nature  of  this  feeling  is  shown  by  the  tenderness  of  such 
passages  as  Eom.  ix.  1-5,  written  only  a  few  years  afterwards.  But  the  feeling 
must  have  been  strong  at  the  moment,  since  it  led  St.  Paul  to  speak  of  his 
fellow  countrymen  in  terms  which  recall  the  bitter  scorn  of  Tacitus  {Ilut.  v. 
5),  and  Juvenal  {Sat.  xiv.  100),  where  Jews  are  charged  with  "  hatred  of  the 
human  race."  This  is  one  of  the  passages  which  led  Baur  to  treat  the  letter 
as  spurious.  But  he  mistakes  the  meaning  of  1  Thess.  ii.  16,  "but  the  wrath 
is  come  (ec^Oaffej/)  upon  them  to  the  uttermost."  St.  Paul  means  that  their 
guilt  involves  their  doom  ;  that  their  rejection  of  Christ  is  Christ's  rejection  of 
them  ;  their  wrath  against  Christ  was  llis  wrath  against  them.  Their  doom 
was  consummated  (Matt,  xxvii.  25)  in  the  fulness  of  their  criminality,  though 
the  final  punishment  was  for  seventeen  years  longer  postponed.  St.  Paul  must 
have  heard  from  the  Apostles  about  the  great  eschatological  discourse  of  Christ 
(Matt,  xxiii.  37-39  ;  xxiv.  passim).  Ewald  speaks  of  "  Christusworten  die 
ihnen  gcwiss  auch  schriftlieh  vorlagen." 

^  Quoted  by  Dr.  Donald  Frascr,  Synopt.  Lectures,  iii.  98. 


The  Second  Advent.  183 

then  (iii.  11 — 13)  begins  the  practical  section  of  the  Epistle. 
These  converts  had  grown  up  amid  the  impure  laxity  and 
manifold  temptations  of  Paganism.  St.  Paul  has,  therefore, 
to  warn  them  first  of  the  high  duty  of  purity  (iv.  1 — 8),  then 
of  brotherly  love  (iv.  9, 10)  and  a  calm  frame  of  mind.  Quiet- 
ness, he  tells  them,  should  be  their  ambition  ((fyiXorifielaOai, 
rjavxa^eiv),  and  faithful  diligence  (iv.  11 — 12).  St.  Paul  would 
evidently  have  had  a  strong  dislike  for  all  fanatical  excite- 
ment, for  all  holy  mendicancy,  for  all  consecrated  idleness. 
From  this  duty  he  passes  to  the  feeling  which  had  disturbed 
their  calm,  namely,  a  needless  despondency  about  those  of 
their  body  who  had  died  without  seeing  the  second  coming  of 
the  Lord,  This  (iv.  13 — 18)  forms  the  doctrinal  kernel  and 
chief  motive  of  the  Epistle.  And  yet  that  it  did  not  furnish 
St.  Paul  with  the  original  motive  for  the  Epistle  is  incidentally 
but  decisively  shown  by  the  word  "  finally  "  in  iv.  1 ;  showing 
that  even  at  that  point  he  was  thinking  of  bringing  his  letter 
to  a  conclusion.  By  the  suddenness  and  awfulness  of  that 
coming  he  exhorts  them  to  maintain  an  attitude  of  armed 
watchfulness  (v.  1 — 11),  cheerfulness,  and  vigilance,  and  hoiDC. 
They  were  to  abandon  for  ever  the  Gentile  views  which,  in 
spite  of  dim  hopes  and  splendid  guesses,  looked  on  the  world 
beyond  the  grave  as  being  at  the  best  "  a  dolorous  gloom," 
and  to  adopt  that  bright  Christian  confidence  which  in  later 
years  filled  even  the  catacombs  with  emblems  of  peace  and 
music  and  beauty — the  dove,  the  green  leaf,  the  Good 
Shepherd,  the  OrjDhean  harp.^ 

^  Here  again  these  few  casual  words  of  St.  Paul  mark  an  epoch.  Rarely,  as 
in  the  lovely  lines  of  Pindar  about  the  sunlight  and  golden  flowers  in  the 
islands  of  the  Blest,  had  any  ancient  poet  spoken  hopefully  of  the  world 
beyond  the  grave.  And  the  Islands  of  the  Blest  were  only  for  the  few,  the 
prevalent  conception  is  that  of  even  Agamemnon  in  the  Shades  : — 
"  Talk  not  of  reigning  in  this  dolorous  gloom, 

Nor  think  vain  words,  he  cried,  can  ease  my  doom  ; 

Better  by  far  laboriously  to  bear 

A  weight  of  woes,  and  breathe  the  vital  air 

Slave  to  the  meanest  hind  that  begs  his  bread, 

Than  reign  the  sceptred  monarch  of  the  dead." 
A  despairing  Roman  epitaph  says,  "  Mortuus  nee  ad  Deos  nee  ad  homines 
acceptus  est"  (Corp.  Liscr.  i.  118).     Le  Boissier,  La  Ed.  Rom.  i.  304. 


184  The  Epistles. 

From  that  point — the  eleventh  verse  of  the  fifth  chapter — 
he  ends  the  Epistle  with  moral  exhortations  of  extraordinary 
force,  freshness,  and  beauty.  There  were  traces  of  insub- 
ordination among,  them,  and  he  bids  them  respect  and  love, 
for  their  work's  sake,  their  spiritual  pastors.^  There  were 
traces  of  despondency  among  them,  and  he  bids  them  encourage 
the  faint-hearted  and  take  the  weak  by  the  hand.  There  were 
traces  of  impatience  and  quarrelsomeness  among  them,  and 
he  bids  them  to  seek  peace  among  themselves,  to  avoid  all 
retaliations  and  seek  after  all  kindness  (v.  12 — 15).  Then 
follow  little  arrow-flights  of  sentences,  unique  in  their  orgin- 
ality,  and  pregnant  in  meaning :  "  Rejoice  always,"  "  Pray 
unceasingly,"  "  Give  thanks  in  everything,"  "  Quench  not  the 
Spirit,"  "  Despise  not  preachings,"  ^  "  Test  all  things,"  "  Hold 
fast  the  honourable,"  "  From  every  kind  of  evil  refrain."  ^ 
Then  he  breathes  his  last  prayer  for  them  that  God  would 
sanctify  them  wholly  in  spirit,  soul,  and  body — a  prayer 
remarkable  as  being  the  earliest  passage  in  which  the  tri- 
chotomy of  our  human  nature  is  recognised  in  Scripture. 
He  asks  their  prayers,  bids  them  salute  one  another  with  the 
kiss  of  charity,  adjures  them  {opKi^co  vfid<i)  that  his  letter 
be  read  to  all  the  holy  brethren,  and  ends  his  letter  with  an 
Apostolic  blessing.* 

6.  Such  then  is  tv-  oldest  book,  or  tract,  or  letter  of  the 
New  Testament ;  the  first  extant  written  communication 
addressed  by  Christians  to  Christians ;  the  first  dawn  of  that 
glorious  Christian  literature  which  was  to  enshrine  during 
nineteen  following  centuries  so  many  immortal  names ;  the 
first  brief  flight,  as  it  were,  of  the  young  eagle  from  the  ark 

^  The  vagueness  of  tlie  ecclesiastical  organLsation  here  indicated  is  one  of 
the  proofs  of  the  early  date  of  the  letter. 

^  It  has  been  fantastically  supposed  that  in  these  two  profound  but  brief 
and  casual  exhortations  lies  the  whole  motive  of  the  letter. 

*  This,  and  not  "  from  every  appearance  of  evil,"  is  the  true  rendering  (dwi 
Travihs  fiSovi,  V.  22). 

*  Tlie  tender  and  affectionate  relation  in  which  St.  Paul  stood  to  these  little 
Churches  may  be  seen  in  these  salutations  and  in  such  passages  as  1  Cor.  iv. 
15  ;  2  Cor.  vi.  11-13  ;  Gal.  iv.  12-21.  See  1  Thess.  ii.  7-11  ;  where  St.  Paul 
compares  himself  both  to  a  father  and  a  mother. 


Importance  of  the  Letter.  185 

of  Christ's  Church,  which,  over  a  world  where  at  least  the  i  thess. 
hilltops  were  beginning  to  emerge  out  of  the  deluge  of  in- 
iquity, was  to  soar  hereafter  with  supreme  dominion  through 
the  brightening  air.  It  may  easily  be  imagined  with  what 
delight  such  a  letter  would  be  received  by  the  little  storm- 
tossed  community  of  recent  converts.  In  its  tenderness,  in  its 
simplicity,  in  its  sincerity,  in  its  sanctity,  it  marked  a  new 
aeon  in  the  world's  history.  It  was  worthy  to  be  read  to  all 
the  holy  brethren;  worthy  to  be  read  to  all  time.  Letter- 
writing  has  been  in  all  ages  a  branch  of  literature.  From 
the  letters  of  the  Greek  philosophers  down  to  those  of  Cicero 
and  Pliny,  and  from  these  down  to  those  of  Cowper  and 
Carlyle,  we  have  hundreds  of  specimens  of  letters  ;  yet  I 
doubt  whether  mankind  would  not  consent  to  part  with  every 
one  of  them  rather  than  part  with  this  simple  missive, 
dictated  perhaps  in  a  few  hours,  partly  as  a  personal  appeal 
against  prevalent  calumnies,  partly  as  a  Christian  consolation 
under  real  trials  and  needless  despondency.  There  are  tones, 
in  the  human  voice  which,  when  once  heard,  we  can  never 
forget ;  which  from  their  own  natural  quality  vibrate  for  ever 
in  the  memory.  So  it  is  with  the  voice  of  inspired  Christian 
wisdom.  We  need  no  proof  of  its  inspiration.  It  thrills 
straight  to  the  inmost  heart,  and  its  accents  can  never  be 
forgotten.  What  illimitable  hopes,  what  holy  obligations, 
what  golden  promises,  what  lofty  ideals,  what  strange 
renovation  of  the  whole  spirit  and  meaning  of  life  lie  hidden 
in  these  simple  words  !  ^ 

Respecting  the  main  doctrinal  section  of  this  brief  letter — ■ 
that  which  relates  to  Christ's  Advent — a  more  favourable  op- 
portunity for  speaking  will  be  offered  by  the  Second  Epistle. 
We  may,  however,  notice  the  fact  that  the  views  of  St.  Paul       p 
in  later  and  more  important  letters  grew  and  widened  amid 

^  There  can  be  no  more  toucliing  illustration  of  these  remarks  than  the  fact 
that  when  in  the  earth([uake  at  Manilla  in  1853,  the  cathedral  fell  on  the  clergy 
and  congregation  the  voice  of  one  of  the  dying  sufferers,  whom  it  was  impossible 
to  rescue  was  heard  calmly  uttering  the  words  of  1  Thess.  iv.  16.  (See  tho 
Bishop  of  Derry,  ad.  loc.  in  Speakers  Commentanj.) 


18G  The  Ejnstks. 

the  divine  teaching  of  events  which  constituted  the  spiritual 
education  of  his  life.  Here,  writing  to  recent  converts,  his 
main  points  are  (i.)  Flee  from  idolatry  and  the  pollutions  of 
lieathendom  ;  (ii.)  Wait  for  the  return  from  heaven  of  the 
Eisen  Christ.^  He  had  not  yet  been  called  upon  (as  in  1,  2, 
Corinthians)  to  defend  against  Jewish  Christians  his  Apostolic 
commission ;  or  as  in  the  Galatians  to  prove  the  abrogation 
of  circumcision  and  the  annulment  of  the  law ;  or  as  in  the 
Romans  to  establish  the  great  doctrine  of  justification  by 
faith ;  or  as  in  the  Pastoral  Epistles,  and  those  of  his 
imprisonment  at  Rome,  to  dwell  on  the  conception  of  the 
Church  as  the  visible  establishment  of  Christ's  kingdom.  In 
the  course  of  these  controversies,  as  time  sped  on  and  the 
horizon  of  his  thoughts  was  widened,  and  Christianity  spread, 
and  the  Lord  did  not  visibly  return,  he  was  naturally  led  to 
think  more — though  not  exclusively^ — of  our  present  union 
with  Christ,  and  of  our  still  nearer  union  with  Him  when 
death  should  set  us  free. 

The  two  practical  duties  on  which  St.  Paul  thought  it 
right  to  offer  a  special  warning  may  however  be  here  fitly 
noticed. 

a.  The  first  is  Purity.  St.  Paul  was  one  of  the  very  few 
men  to  whom  it  has  been  granted  to  speak  on  this  painful 
subject,  with  stainless  delicacy,  yet  with  absolute  precision. 
To  him  the  Spirit  of  God  seems  more  especially  to  have 
intrusted  the  high  task  of  raising  the  world  out  of  the  depths 
of  vileness  to  which  it  had  sunk  down.  In  what  few  words, 
in  a  tone  how  solemn  and  how  fatherly,  with  arguments  how 
weighty,  does  he  speak  at  the  opening  of  the  fourth  chapter. 
These  Thessalonians  had  been  Gentiles ;  and  the  life  of  the 
Gentiles  was  socially  a  life  of  almost  unblushing  sin,  scourged 
yet  unenlightened  by  sin's  natural  retributions.  Therefore 
he  entreats  and  exhorts  them  to  walk  as  he  had  taught  them 
to  walk,  and  to  abound  more  and  more.     He  tells  them  of 


1  See  1  Thess.  i.  9-10. 

^  See  especially  Phil.  iii.  20. 


Purity.  187 

the  deep  sin  of  sensual  indulgence,  because  the  will  of  God  i  tuess. 
was  their  sanctification.  He  bids  them  each  learn  how  to 
possess  their  bodies  in  sanctification  and  honour — that  is  to 
obtain  a  holy  and  noble  mastery  over  themselves  and  the 
impulses  of  their  lower  nature.  If  they  neglect  this,  he  tells 
them — and  this  they  knew  full  well — that  they  rendered 
themselves  liable  to  the  awful  and  inevitable  consequences  of 
permitted  sin ;  and  he  tells  them  further,  what  they  had  not 
yet  learnt  so  well,  that  to  despise  these  injunctions  was  to 
despise  not  man  but  God,  who  had  given  to  them  that  Holy 
Spirit  who  loves  "  before  all  temples  the  upright  heart  and 
pure." 

And  these  loving  and  awful  admonitions  are  not  for  the 
Thessalonians  only,  but  for  all  time.  What  Paul  said  more 
than  1800  years  ago  one  of  the  greatest  writers  of  our  day — 
not  a  clergyman,  not  a  Puritan,  not  in  any  sense  a  Churchman 
— felt  constrained  to  say  in  a  great  work  a  few  years  ago, 
namely,  that  "  to  burn  away  in  mad  waste  the  divine  aroma 
and  plainly  celestial  elements  from  our  existence ;  to  change 
our  Holy  of  Holies  into  a  place  of  riot;  to  make  the  soul  itself 
hard,  impious,  barren  ; — surely  a  day  is  coming  when  it  will 
be  known  again  what  virtue  is  in  purity  and  continence  of  life ; 
how  divine  is  the  blush  of  young  human  cheeks ;  how  high, 
beneficent,  sternly  inexorable,  if  forgotten,  is  the  duty  laid 
...  on  every  creature  in  regard  to  these  particulars.  Well, 
if  such  a  day  never  comes  again,  then  I  perceive  that  much 
else  will  never  come.  Magnanimity  and  depth  of  insight 
will  never  come ;  heroic  purity  of  heart  and  of  eye ;  noble 
pious  valour  to  amend  us,  and  the  age  of  bronze  and  lacquer, 
how  can  they  ever  come  ?  The  scandalous  age  ...  of 
hungry  animalisms,  spiritual  impotencies  and  mendacities 
wiU  have  to  run  its  course  till  the  pit  swallows  it."  So  writes 
the  great  English  moralist  Thomas  Carlyle,  and  this  passage 
has  often  been  noticed  for  its  eloquence  and  power.  Yet, 
though  written  eighteen  centuries  later,  how  incomparably 
does  it  fall  below  the  few  solemn,  simple,  weighty  words  of 


188  The  Epistles. 

1  TiiEss.  St.  Paul  to  his  Thessalonians  at  the  beginning  of  the  fourth 
chapter '  How  far  more  spiritually  religious  are  St.  Paul's 
words  1  How  far  more  deeply  do  they  go  to  the  very  heart 
of  the  matter !  And  how  superior  are  they  in  this  respect 
above  all,  that  St.  Paul  does  not  only  warn,  does  not  only 
remind  of  duty,  does  not  only  recall  to  us  a  sense  of  the 
dignity  of  our  being,  as  having  the  image  of  God  stamped 
upon  it,  and  as  being  highly  ransomed  and  ennobled  to  a 
filial  relationship  with  Him,  but  he  also  points  out  to  us  the 
source  of  strength,  the  secret  of  victory,  without  which  all 
warning  is  useless, — which  source  of  strength  lies  in  the 
awful  words  that  "  He  that  despiseth,  despiseth  not  man,  but 
God,  who  has  also  given  to  us  His  Holy  Spirit." 

h.  Of  the  second  virtue  on  which  he  here  touches — that  of 
brotherly  love — we  need  not  dwell.  But  let  it  be  observed 
how  infinitely  new  all  this  was.  To  us  it  is  as  familiar  as 
household  words,  but  there  is  nothing  whatever  even  remotely 
resembling  it  in  the  vast  field  of  Pagan  literature.  On 
the  darkness  of  heathen  immorality  sentence  after  sentence 
of  this  simplest  of  the  Epistles  must  have  fallen  like  a  sun- 
beam from  God — a  ray  out  of  eternity.  Imagine  the  joy  of 
that  young,  tried,  perplexed  community  as  they  received  it ! 
It  was  a  blessing  to  be  comforted  and  inspirited  by  the  words 
of  the  dear  teacher  who  had  changed  the  current  of  their 
lives.  It  was  much  to  know  that  he  was  still  with  them  in 
heart,  healing  their  incipient  disagreements,  silencing  their 
needless  fears.  But  to  be  told  truths  so  utterly  new,  so 
divinely  precious,  as  that  there  could  be  "joy  of  the  Holy 
Ghost"  even  amid  "  much  affliction  "  ;  that  God  had  "  called 
them  to  His  kingdom  and  glory";  that  they  should,  after 
death,  be  for  ever  with  Him  ;  that  they  were  all  the  children 
of  light  and  of  the  day ;  that  the  Spirit  of  God  dwelt  in 
them — surely  such  truths  transfigured  all  life,  as  much  as 
sunlight  transfigures  the  dark  cold  world.  If  such  words  and 
thoughts  shine  brightly  to  us  through  the  indurated  dust  of 
age-long  familiarity,  how  must  they  have  sparkled  for  them, 


New  Truths.  189 

in  their  fresli  originality,  with  heaven's  own  light !  How 
nmst  they  have  rejoiced  to  know  that  they  might  use,  for 
their  daily  wear,  such  glory  and  holiness  of  thought  as  had 
scarcely  been  attained  by  the  greatest  spirits  of  their  race  at 
their  rarest  moments  of  inspiration ;  and  therewith  that 
grandeur  of  life,  which,  in  its  perfect  innocence  towards  God 
and  man,  was  even  to  these  unknown  ! 


190  Tlie  Epistles. 


NOTE  I. 

LEADING  IDEA   OF  THE  FIRST   EPISTLE   TO   THE   THESSAL0NIAN3. 

The  leading  words  of  these  Epistles  are  Advent  (Jlapova-ia)  and 
Affliction  {Q\i-<\ns).  The  word  Parousia  for  advent  occurs  six 
times,  and  St.  Paul  only  uses  it  once  elsewhere  (1  Cor.  xv.  23). 

Its  key-note  is  Hope. 

It  first  expressed  the  Christian  possession  of  spiritual  joy  in  the  midst 
of  calamity.  "  Much  aflliction,  with  joy  of  the  Holy  Ghost "  (i.  6). 
This  was  no  rhetorical  oxymoron,  but  the  sign  of  a  new  epoch  in  the 
history  of  human  souls. 

Its  main  theme  is  Consolation  from  the  near  hope  of  the  Second 
advent. 

^^  The  dead  in  CJirist  shall  arise  first;  then  we  that  are  alive,  that  are 
left,  shall,  together  with  them,  be  caught  up  in  the  clouds  to  vwet  the 
Lord  in  the  air;  and  so  shall  we  ever  be  with  the  Lord.  Wherefore 
comfort  one  another  roilh  these  tvords." — 1  Thess.  iv.  17,  18. 


NOTE  II. 

The  general  outline  of  1  Thess.  is  as  follows  : 
It  falls  into  two  main  divisions. 

I.  Retrospective  (i.  ii.  iii.) 

II.  Hortatory  (iv.  v.) 

I.  Retrospective. 

Greeting  (j^. 

Thanksgiving  (i.  2-10). 

Appeal  to  them  as  to  the  character  of  his  ministry  (ii.  -112). 

Thanksgiving  for  their  constancy  ;  and  hitter  complaint  of  the 

Jews  (ii.  13-16). 
Personal  messages,  and  prayer  (ii.  17  ;  iii.  13). 

II.  Hortatory. 

Warnings  and  exhortations  :  Be  pure,  Be  diligent  (iv.  1-12). 
Doctrinal  kernel  of  the  Epistle  :  Be  comforted.     Tlie  Dead  and 

the  Advent  (iv.  13-v.  11). 
Further    exhortations :    Be  watchful.   Be   helpful,    Be   glad, 

prayerful,  thankful,  tolerant,  aim  at  perfectness  (v.  12-24). 
Last  words  and  blessing  (v.  25-28). 


The  Genuineness  of  1  Thessalonians.  191 

In  this  Epistle  the  personal,  doctrinal,  and  practical  sections  are      1  thess. 
intermingled  ;  and  there  are  no  special  salutations. 


NOTE  III. 

ON  THE  GENUINENESS   OF   1   THESSALONIANS. 

This  may  be  regarded  as  finally  established.  The  Epistle  is 
thoroughly  supported  by  external  testimony,  and  probably  alluded  to 
even  by  Polycarp  and  Ignatius.  The  first  to  hint  a  doubt,  was  J.  E.  C. 
Schmidt,  Einleit.  ii.  256,  who  has  subsequently  been  followed  by  Baur, 
Hilgenfeld,  and  others.  Baur's  arguments  (Paulus,  cap.  vii.  and  Theol. 
Jahrh.  xiv.  141)  are  mainly  based — 1.  (a)  On  the  "colourlessness" 
and  theological  unimportance  of  the  Epistle,  which  he  says  is  (/3)  built 
on  the  Acts,  with  (y)  the  help  of  reminiscences  from  the  Epistles  to  the 
Corinthians.  2.  On  supposed  traces  of  a  later  age.  3.  On  an  "  un- 
Pauline  "  Apocalypse  in  iv. 

The  answer  is  simple. 

1.  Why  should  we  suppose  that  St,  Paul  could  write  nothing  less 
important  than  Epistles  to  the  Eomans  ?  ^  (j3)  So  far  from  being  built 
on  the  Acts,  it  is  not  at  first  sight  easy  to  reconcile  the  data  of  the 
Epistle  with  the  events  narrated  in  the  Acts,  (y)  May  an  author  have 
no  recurrent  phrases  1 

2.  The  supposed  traces  of  a  later  date  are  exaggerated  inferences  from 
i.  7-9  (this  needs  no  explanation,  since  Thessalonica  was  a  centre  of 
commerce  from  which  travellers  went  in  all  directions  ;  and  Paul  himself 
may  have  spread  the  good  fame  of  the  Church)  and  iv.  13  (as  though 
there  were  any  difficulty  in  supposing  that  several  deaths  might  have 
occurred  at  Thessalonica  during  the  intervening  months  !). 

3.  The  assertion  that  the  Apocalyptic  verses  (iv.  13-18)  are  "un- 
Pauline  "  simply  assumes  that  St.  Paul's  opinions  were  stereotyped  ;  not 
to  mention  that  there  is  nothing  in  them  which  conflicts  with  what 
he  writes  elsewhere. 

4.  The  outburst  against  the  Jews,  which  some  have  regarded  as  sus- 
picious, is  closely  analogous  to  that  in  Phil.  iii.  2,  and  is  sufficiently 
accounted  for  by  Acts  xviii.  2-13.  The  whole  Epistle  was  an  answer  to 
the  secret  calumnies  of  Jews  who  charged  him  with  "  deceitfulness,  un- 
cleanness,  guile."  In  this  way  they  began  the  controversy  which  did 
not  end  till  his  death  (see  Lipsius,  Stud.  u.  Krit.  1854). 

'  "  Der  Apostel  schrieb  nicht  lauter  Romerbriefe." — Hofmann. 


192  The  Epistles. 


NOTE  IV. 

DATES  IN   THE   HISTORY   OF   THESSALOXIOA. 
B.C. 

(})      Founded  in  ancient  days,  and  known  as  Emathia,  Halia,  and, 

from  its  hot  springs,  Thernia. 
421     Occupied  by  tlie  Athenians  in  the  Peloponnesian  war. 
315     Rebuilt  by  Cassander  and  called  Thessalonica  after  his  wife,  a 

daughter  of  Philip. 
1G8     Surrenders  to  the  Romans  after  the  battle  of  Pydna,  and  becomes 

the  capital  of  Macedonia  Secunda. 
12     Made  a  free  city  by  Antony  and  Augustus. 

A.D. 

51     Cliristianity  founded  by  St.  Paul. 
389     Massacre  by  Theodosius. 
904    Taken  by  Saracens. 

1185     Retaken  by  Tancred.     Eustathius  Bishop. 

1876     Outbreak  of  Turkish  fanaticism.     Destruction  of  the  arch  of 
the  "  Politarchs." 
Saloniki  is  now  the  third  city  of  the  Turkish  Empire   with 
85,000  inhabitants,  of  whom  about  half  are  Jews. 


THE     SECOND    EPISTLE    TO    THE 
THESSALONIANS. 

written  from  corinth,  a.d.  52,  or  early  in  a.d.  53 
(some  months  after  the  first). 

"  Ergo  latet  ultimus  dies  ut  observentur  omnes  dies." — Aug. 

"  Utraqiie  Epistola  ad  Thessalonicenses  fere  singula  capita  singulis  suspiiiis 
obsignata  habet." — Bengel. 


"  These  things  must  first  come  to  pass,  but  the  end  is  not  immediately." — 
Luke  xxi.  9, 

Very  shortly  after  St.  Paul  had  despatched  his  first  letter  2  thi 
to  the  Thessalonians  he  received  further  news  of  their  con- 
dition. It  was  on  the  whole  favourable.  In  his  first  letter 
he  had  urged  them  to  still  greater  advance  in  faith,  and  in 
brotherly  love,  and  had  encouraged  them  to  steadfastness  amid 
the  heavy  persecutions  to  which  it  appears  that  they  were 
constantly  liable.  He  had  also  urged  on  them  the  duties  of 
purity  and  diligence,  and  of  due  submission  to  those  who 
were  set  over  them  in  the  Lord.  He  had,  above  all,  shown 
the  groundlessness  of  their  fears  as  to  any  irreparable  loss  of 
those  who  had  died  without  seeing  the  advent  of  Christ. 
In  all  these  matters  his  letter  had  produced  excellent  effects. 
He  has  no  need  to  repeat  his  solemn  warnings  about  chastity 
and  obedience,  and  he  can  begin  his  second  letter  by  thanking 
God  with  unusual  fervour  for  the  exceeding  increase  of  their 
faith  and  charity. 


194  The  Ejnstles. 

2  THEss.  1.  But  yet  there  was  one  new  and   serious  danger — over- 

excitement  about  the  coming  of  the  Lord ;  a  mistaken  notion 
as  to  its  immediate  instancy ;  and  a  consequent  sj^irit  of 
disorderliness,  which  sprang  from  the  neglect  of  daily  duties. 
A  restless  feeling  of  alarm  had  even  spread  into  the  heathen 
world,  and  the  gravest  liistorians  of  the  epoch  recount  the 
portents  and  prodigies  which  made  many  hearts  faint  with 
fear.^  It  is  this  attitude  of  mind  that  he  now  mainly 
endeavours  to  counteract.  His  second  letter — so  brief  and 
simple  that  it  probably  cost  him  no  effort — must  have  been 
written  within  a  few  months  of  the  first.  It  has  all  the  six 
usual  divisions — the  greeting  of  the  first  two  verses;  the 
thanksgiving,  which,  with  its  accompanying  prayer  and 
description  of  the  Advent,  occupies  the  first  chapter;  the 
doctrinal  part,  which,  with  exhortations  and  a  concluding 
prayer,  takes  up  the  second  chapter;  the  practical  section, 
which,  with  mingled  prayers  and  commands,  forms  the  third 
chapter ;  and  the  final  salutation  and  benediction  in  the  last 
two  verses.  But  the  main  point  and  object  of  the  whole 
letter  could  not  be  better  simimed  up  than  by  those  words  of 
our  Lord  which  I  have  placed  at  the  head  of  this  discourse. 
That  object  is  clearly  stated  in  the  first  verse  of  the  second 
chapter,  which  literally  rendered  runs  as  follows :  "  Now 
we  beseech  you,  brethren "  (not  "  by,"  but)  "  as  regards  the 
presence  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  our  gathering  together 
unto  Him,  that  ye  be  not  quickly  tossed  as  by  a  Hood,  from  your 
intelligence,  nor  be  alarmed,  either  by  spirit,  or  by  word,  or  by 
letter  professing  to  be  mine,  into  the  supposition  that  the  day 
of  Christ  is  here."  It  appears  that  they  had  thus,  as  it  were, 
drifted  from  their  moorings ;  been  tossed  out  of  their  sound 
sense.  They  had  been  excited,  filled  with  reprehensible 
panic  and  disturbing  exultation,  by  spirit,  i.e.  by  some  among 
them  professing  to  speak  under  inspiration,  or  with  the  gift 
of  tongues ;  and  by  word,  i.e.  by  some  rumoured  expression 

^  Tac.  Ann.  xii.  04.    Suet.  "  Claud."  xlvi.  <fec.  and  comp.  4  Esdras,  passim; 
Orac.  Sib.  iv,  &c. 


Occasion  of  the  Letter.  195 

of  tlie  Aj^ostle's  opinions ;  and  by  letter,  as  though  coming 
from  St.  Paul,  i.e.  either  by  mistaking  what  he  really  had 
said  to  them ;  or  by  believing  in  a  forged  letter,  or  in  some 
letters  which  j)rofessed  to  give  his  sentiments,  but  misrepre- 
sented them.  He  had  told  them  in  his  first  Epistle  to 
"  prove  all  things " ;  and  it  was  clear  that  they  had  not 
sufficiently  done  so.  They  needed  to  observe  that  not  every 
man  was  infallible  who  claimed  infallibility ;  or  inspired  who 
asserted  his  inspiration.  What  they  required  was  "  discerning 
of  spirits."  That  there  was  a  jDossibility  of  their  being  mis- 
led by  forged  letters  or  spurious  messages  appears  from  .the 
close  of  the  Epistle,  where  St.  Paul  appends  his  autograph 
signature  to  what  had  been  written  by  his  amanuensis,  in 
order  to  furnish  them  with  a  specimen  of  his  handwriting  as 
an  authentication  for  this  and  all  future  Epistles.^  But 
besides  this  liability  to  be  deceived,  the  eschatological  en- 
thusiasm of  the  Thessalonians  had  evidently  attributed  ex- 
aggerated importance  to  one  expression  which  St.  Paul  had 
undoubtedly  used.  He  had  said  that  at  Christ's  coming  "  we 
who  are  alive  and  remain  shall  not  anticipate,"  not  get  the 
advantage  of,  "  them  that  sleep."  Did  not  that  little  word 
"  we  "  show  decisively  the  Apostle's  expectation  that  he  per- 
sonally should  survive  to  see  the  Second  Advent  ?  And  if 
so,  of  what  use  were  the  petty  details  of  daily  routine,  the 
petty  energies  of  daily  effort  ?  So  the  Thessalonians  seem 
to  have  argued.  They  began  the  unfortunate  example  of 
extravagant  literalism.  They  unduly  pressed  the  sense  of  a 
mere  passing  expression.  St.  Paul  does  not,  indeed,  tell  them 
that  they  were  mistaken  in  their  general  inference  as  to  the 
nearness  of  the  Advent.  He  probably  did  exj)ect,  at  this 
period  of  his  life,  though  not  later,  to  see  in  person  the  return 
in  glory  of  his  Lord.  In  common  with  all  the  early  Church, 
as  we  see  in  almost  every  one  of  the   Epistles,^   St.   Paul 

^  The  energetic  adjuration  in  1  Tliess.  v.  27,  seems  to  show  some  misgiving 
that  his  letters  might  be  suppressed  or  tampered  with. 

-  1  Thess.  i.  9,  10  ;  1  Cor.  i.  7,  xv.  51  ;  Jas.  v.  8,  9  ;  1  Fet.  iv.  7  ;  Rev. 
xxii.  20. 

0  2 


196  The  E'pistles. 

believed  that  the  close  of  the  Age,  the  end  of  all  things,  the 
visible  Epiphany  of  Christ  in  judgment,  would  occur  very 
soon ;  that  literally,  as  well  as  nietajjliorically,  the  Lord  was 
at  hand  ;  that  universally,  as  well  as  individually,  the  time 
was  short ;  that  not  merely  in  national  judgments,  and  new 
revelations,  but  in  flaming  personal  Apocaly^jse,  they  should 
see  the  Risen  and  Returning  Christ.  In  the  tmest  and 
deepest  sense  those  early  Christians  were  not  mistaken.  The 
divine  and  steady  light  of  History  soon  made  it  clear  to  the 
Church  that  our  Lord's  great  Prophecy  of  the  last  things  had 
referred  in  the  first  instance,  and  in  its  primary  fulfilment,  not 
to  His  visible  but  to  His  spiritual  return  in  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem  and  the  full  inauguration  of  the  last  aeon  of 
God's  dealings  with  mankind.  It  was  the  Avinding  up  of  all 
the  Past;  the  starting  point  of  all  the  Future.  It  was  at 
once  the  death-blow  to  Paganism,  and  the  annulment  of  the 
Jewish  Law.  Within  seventeen  years  of  the  date  at  which 
St.  Paul  was  writing  (a.d.  52  or  53)  the  Pagans  saAV  an 
awful  sign  of  the  anger  of  their  gods,  which  Tacitus  calls 
"  the  saddest  and  most  shameful  blow."  It  was  nothing  less 
than  the  burning  of  the  great  Temple  of  the  Capitolian 
Jupiter  in  the  war  between  Vitellius  and  Vespasian,  on 
December  19,  A.D.  69.  Six  months  afterwards  the  Jews  saw 
a  yet  more  awful  sign  that  God  had  forsaken  them,  when  a 
soldier  of  Titus  flung  the  brand  which  consumed  to  ashes 
the  Temple  of  Jerusalem,  whereby  the  very  j)ossibility  of 
obeying  their  worshijjped  "  Law "  sank  into  ashes  for  ever. 
These  events  were  a  coming  of  the  Lord.  The  heii's  of  both 
Temples,  the  Capitoline  and  the  Jewish,  were  the  worshippers 
in  the  Universal  Temple  which  is  the  Church  of  God — the 
handful  of  women,  slaves,  and  artisans  to  whom  were  written 
the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul.i  Now,  so  far  as  the  anticipations 
of  Christ's  visible  reajopearance  by  the  early  Christians  were 
mistaken,  they  were  so  only  on  a  subject  as  to  which  they 
professed  no  certainty,  and  on  a  subject  which  their  Lord 

^  Diillinger,  Jadcnth.  u,  Hciiuicnthiuu. 


The  Man  of  Sin.  197 

Himself  had  emphatically  told  them  that  it  was  not  given  to 
them,  or  even  to  the  angels  of  God,  to  know.  But  as  to 
St.  Paul's  expression,  "we  who  are  alive  and  remain,"  the 
Thessalonians  had,  in  any  case,  emphasised  its  meaning  un- 
warrantably. They  had  mistaken  a  generic  phrase  for  a 
specific  and  individual  one.^  St.  Paul  had  used  the  word 
"  we "  to  mean  "  we,  the  living,"  as  opposed  to  the  dead. 
Even  if  he  implied,  he  had  not  meant  to  lay  the  slightest 
stress  on  his  own  possible  survival  to  that  great  day.  He 
merely  shared  the  feeling  which  prevailed  even  through  the 
Gentile  world,  that  some  awful  catastrophe  was  near  at 
hand.^ 

2.  He  writes  to  them  therefore  with  two  great  objects,  one 
doctrinal  and  one  practical.  As  a  matter  of  doctrine,  he 
wishes  to  remind  them  that  the  second  coming  of  Christ, 
though  ho  held  it  to  be  near  (iyyvs:)  ^  was  not  instant 
{ivea-TqKev),  had  not,  so  to  speak,  actually  begun  ;  and  as  a 
matter  of  practice  he  wishes  to  instruct  them  how  it  was 
their  duty  to  live  whether  that  day  was  near  or  far.  He 
does  not  write  to  explain  away  what  he  had  said  before,  but 
only  to  bring  out  its  true  meaning. 

i.  The  doctrine  forms,  as  I  have  said,  the  one  prominent 
topic  of  the  second  chapter;  and  is  in  fact  the  celebrated 
passage  about  the  Man  of  Sin.  Now  about  this  passage 
whole  volumes  of  controversy  have  been  written,  which  have 
for  the  most  part  only  succeeded  in  darkening  counsel  by  the 
multitude  of  words  without  knowledge.  What  St.  Paul  says 
is  perfectly  plain,  though  he  spoke  with  an  obvious  caution 
which  makes  his  reference  obscure.  Do  not  be  startled, 
he  says,  out  of  your  sound  sense  by  any  assertion,  whatever 
its  supposed  source — not  even  if  it  claims  to  be  inspired,  or 
professes  to  come  from  me — as  that  the  Day  of  the  Lord  is 

'  1  Tlicss.  iv.  15  :  TjyueTs  .  .  .  ou  Trepl  kavTOv  (prjatv  .  .  dWa  rovs  witTTof/s 
\tyei.      S.   Clirvs. 

-  Tac.  Ann/vi.  28  ;  xii.  43,  CI  ;  xiv.  12,  22;  xv.  22,  Hist.  1,  3;  Suet. 
Xrr.  36-39,  &c. 

^  Maranatlia  :  6  Kvpios  e77tlj. 


198  The  Epistles. 

2  THES3.  licre.  It  may  come  very  soon  ;  but  two  things  must  liappen 
first,  namely,  "  the  Apostasy "  (erroneously  rendered  in  our 
version  "  a  falling  away "),  and  the  revelation  of  a  human 
Satan  ^ — the  Man  of  Sin,  the  Son  of  Destruction,  whose 
characteristic  is  blasphemous  self-exaltation  against  God.''' 
He  reminds  them  that  he  had  already  set  forth  these  facts 
when  he  was  with  them.  Now  the  mystery  of  this  lawless- 
ness was  beginning  to  work,  but  there  was  something  which 
withheld,  some  man  who  withheld — a  restrainer  and  a  re- 
straint— interposed  between  Christ's  Advent  and  this  pre- 
liminary Apocalypse  of  Antichrist,  "  the  Messiah  of  Satan." 
When  that  restrainer  and  that  restraint  were  "  done  away 
with  "  (Karapy^aei,  ii.  8)  ^  by  the  far-off  shining  {iiri^aveia) 
of  Christ's  coming,  then  the  oj^ening  bud  of  the  Apostasy 
should  rush  into  its  scarlet  flower.  The  lawless  one  should 
be  revealed,  whom,  when  revealed,  Christ  should  destroy  with 
the  breath  of  His  mouth  and  the  manifestation  of  His  presence. 
Now  one  thing  may  be  regarded  as  all  but  certain,  namely, 
that  by  "  the  restrainer  "  St.  Paul  meant  some  Roman  Em- 
peror,* or  succession  of  Roman  Emperors ;  and  that  by  "  the 
restraint "  he  meant  the  Roman  Empire,  regarded  as  Daniel's 
fourth  kingdom.  This  is  all  but  certain,  both  because  it  has 
been  the  explanation  current  in  the  Church  from  the  earliest 
age,  derived  doubtless  from  those  who  heard  it  from  St.  Paul ; 
and  also  because  the  fact  at  once  accounts  for  the  obvious 
mystery,  and  reticence,  and  almost  embarrassment  of  the 
Apostle's  language.  He  dared  not  write  more  plainly.  His 
letter  would  be  read  in  public  to  the  Church,  and  as  the 
meetings  of  the  Church  were  open  to  Jews  and  Gentiles,  to 
enemies  as  well  as  to  friends,  any  open  reference  to  the 
Roman  Emperor  or  the  Roman  Empire  as  doomed  to  pass 
away,  would  lead  at  once  to  terrible  dangers.     Already  the 

'   &  avTiKeifxevos. 

-  iiTtpalpofxfvus   eni.    Comp. Dan.   xi.   Sfi.    (5  PaatKevs  (Antiocluis  Epipliancs) 
t^ccOrifffTat  Kal  fxfya\vv6r](Ti-rai  iir\  irivTa  dedf. 
^  Coiiip.  fojs  CK  fxtcrov  ytvriTai,  ii.  7. 
*  Just  US  Daiiiul  (xi.  GO)  icluis  to  Antiochus  Epipliancs. 


The  Man  of  Sin.  199 

fact  that  St.  Paul,  in  preaching  at  Thessalonica,  had  dwelt  2  thess. 
much  on  the  Second  Coming  of  Christ  as  the  Universal  King 
had  caused  the  tumult  and  charge  of  high  treason  which 
drove  him  from  the  city.^  But  if  we  go  on  to  ask  who 
"  the  Man  of  Sin  "  is,  and  what  "  the  Apostasy  "  is,  we  can  only 
reply  that  after  so  many  volumes  have  been  written,  no 
conclusion  can  be  arrived  at.  Some  Roman  Catholics  have 
declared  that  the  Apostasy  is  Protestantism,  and  the  Man  of 
Sin,  Luther,  Many  Protestants  assert  that  the  Apostasy  is 
Romanism,  and  the  Man  of  Sin  the  Pope.  I  repudiate  all 
such  interpretations  as  provincial,  as  obsolete,  as  useless,  as 
uncharitable.  It  would  be  easy  no  doubt  to  talk  to  any 
extent  about  Apocalyptic  symbols  ;  about  the  Little  Horn  of 
Daniel ;  about  the  Beast ;  about  Gnosticism  ;  about  Mahomet ; 
about  bad  Popes.  We  might  record  a  multitude  of  cheap, 
irresjDonsible  explanations  of  the  past,  and  yet  cheaper  and 
more  irresponsible  guesses  about  the  future.  I  regard  all 
such  disquisitions  as  being  for  the  most  part  intrinsically  false, 
and  at  any  rate  highly  dubious  and  useless.  They  may 
feed  intellectual  conceit ;  they  may  minister  to  spiritual  self- 
satisfaction  ;  they  may  amuse  aimless  curiosity ;  they  may 
give  plausible  excuse  for  archaeological  research ;  but  what 
other  end  they  serve  I  do  not  know.  After  having  read  much 
that  has  been  written  on  the  subject,  I  am  only  the  more 
convinced  that  most  of  the  uses  which  have  been  made  of  this 
passage  about  the  Man  of  Sin  are  supremely  unprofitable. 
Had  further  details  been  essential  for  the  good  of  the  Church 
St.  Paul  would  have  supplied  them.  As  it  is,  he  never  again 
so  much  as  refers  to  the  Man  of  Sin  at  all ;  and  indeed, 
as  any  one  can  verify  for  himself,  he  dwells  in  succeeding 
letters  less  and  less  on  the  Personal  Return  of  Christ, 
more  and  more  on  that  spiritual  Union  with  Him  which  is 
Eternal  Life.  And  if  any  inquire  further  about  the  Man  of 
Sin,  I  answer  in  the  words  of  one  of  the  most  eloquent 
of  all  the  Fathers,  St.  Augustine  :  "  I  confess  that  I "   (and 


200  The  Epistles. 

iiiEss.     indeed  the  whole  Church  of  Christ)  "  am  entirely  ignorant 
what  the  Apostle  meant."  ^ 

ii.  But  the  main  point  on  which  St.  Paul  is  dwelling  is 
perfectly  clear,  and  its  moral  significance  is  of  eternal  validity. 
It  was  imijortant  for  the  Thessalonians  to  be  made  to  under- 
stand that  they  were  mistaken  in  supposing  each  morning 
that,  ere  sunset  came,  there  would  be,  as  it  were,  three  sudden 
flashes  of  lightning  out  of  the  rosy  sky,  and  that  then  with 
one  tremendous  "  Now,"  and  one  great  blast  from  the  Arch- 
angelic  trump,  the  rocks  should  be  rent,  and  the  whole  earth, 
with  all  the  works  of  man,  smitten  into  indistinguishable 
ruin.  It  was  also  most  important  for  them  to  know  that 
however  near  that  terrible  event  might  be,  it  in  no  wise 
diminished  the  urgency  and  sacredness  of  individual  duty. 
St.  Paul  expresses  strong  disapproval  of  those  of  Avhom  he 
says  in  the  original  with  a  somewhat  scornful  play  of  words, 
that  their  only  business  was  to  be  busybodies.^  The  Advent 
to  which  he  had  bidden  them  look  as  a  source  of  heavenly 
consolation  was  not  to  be  desecrated  into  an  excuse  for 
prating  guesswork  and  gadding  curiosity.  A  story  is  told  of 
the  old  American  Puritans,  that  at  one  of  the  gatherings  of 
their  statesmen  the  daylight  was  suddenly  obscured  by  some 
deep  and  unusual  darkness  ;  and  at  last  the  assembly  became 
so  alarmed,  that  one  of  them  got  up  and  moved  that  the 
meeting  should  at  once  be  adjourned,  because  it  seemed  as  if 
this  would  be  the  Judgment  Day.  Whereupon  another,  and 
a  wiser  senator,  got  up  and  said  :  "  If  this  be  indeed  the 
Judgment  Day,  it  cannot  find  us  better  employed  in  any 
respect  than  in  quietly  doing  our  duty.  I  move  simply  that 
candles  be  lighted."  ^     Now  that  calm  old  man  unconsciously 

^  "Ego  prorsiis  quid  dixerit  fateor  me  ignorare." — St.  Aug.  Tlie  inquiry 
is  so  far  exhausted  that  now  we  have  no  books  written  to  decide  who  "  Anti- 
christ" was.  Malvenda  in  1G04  wrote  eleven  books  ou  Antichrist.  Is  the 
world  much  the  wiser  for  them  ? 

'■'  2  Tliess.  iii.  11,  ovk  ipya(o/xfvovs  dWa  Trepiepya(oi.itfovs. 

8  Since  writing  the  above  1  find  the  anecdote  partially  quoted  by  the  Bishop 
of  Derry  from  a  letter  of  General  Lee's.  He  adds  the  story  tliat  St.  Francis  de 
Sales  being  asked  wliilst  ])laying  a  game  of  whist  wliat  lie  would  do  if  Christ 
were  at  hand,  answered,  "  Finish  the  game  ;  for  His  glory  I  began  it." 


The  Practical  Lesson.  201 

gave  an  epitome  of  the  advice  which  constitutes  the  very     2  thess. 
essence  of  the  second  Epistle  to  the  Thessalonians. 

3.  The  one  practical  lesson  which,  among  its  many  blessed 
teachings,  this  Epistle  has  for  us,  may  be  summed  up  by  saying 
that  it  proves  the  sacredness,  the  importance,  the  necessity  of 
quiet,  everyday  duties.  Of  the  "  How  ? "  of  Christ's  return  we 
know  nothing  but  a  few  obvious  symbols.  This  is  almost  the 
only  passage  in  which  St.  Paul  even  distantly  alludes  to  any 
such  details.  It  is  also  the  only  passage  in  which  he  speaks 
about  the  destruction  of  the  ungodly.  He  says  that  the 
Lord  Jesus  shall  be  revealed  "  from  heaven  in  flaming  fire, 
taking  vengeance  on  those  that  know  not  God,  who  shall  be 
punished  with  eternal  destruction  from  the  presence  of  the 
Lord."  This,  in  all  his  thirteen  epistles,  is  the  only  passage 
which  even  seems  to  refer  to  the  final  destiny  of  the  wicked. 
Its  meaning  is  much  misunderstood.  The  flaming  fire 
(irvpl  <f)\oy6i;)  of  this  Apocalypse  has  not,  to  the  minds  of 
those  who  have  really  studied  the  passage,  the  remotest  con- 
nexion with  hell  or  with  penal  fire.  The  words  "  in  fire  of 
flame  "  are  to  be  joined  with  "  revelation,"  not  with  "  inflicting 
retribution."  They  allude  to  the  light  of  Christ's  coming 
(Dan.  vii.  9 ;  Ex.  iii.  2) ;  the  glory  of  the  Shechinah ;  the 
Sinaitic  splendour  of  the  clouds  that  burn  into  gold  and 
crimson  before  His  Advent  feet.  The  words  "taking  ven-  9 
geance  "  are  a  severe  exaggeration  of  a  rare  Greek  j)hrase,  ' 
which  means  rather  "assigning  retribution  for  the  sake  cf 
others  "  {SlSovao  eKSiKijcrip,  2  Sam.  xxii.  48,  LXX.).  Those 
who  are  punished  are  not  poor  ordinary  sinners,  but  wilful 
rejecters  and  hardened  persecutors.  The  punishment  is  not 
"everlasting  destruction,"   but   spiritual   cutting-off,    in  the  / 

period  between  the  Advent  and   the  Judgment,  from   the 
Presence  of  the  Lord ;   in  other  words,  an  exclusion   from  p 

the  Beatific  Vision  at  Christ's  First  Advent,  not  at  the  final  ' 

Judgment  Day, 

But  passing  from  this,  we  may  add,  that  if  of  the  "  How?"  of 
Christ's  Advent  we  know  little,  of  the  "  When  ? "  of  the  Advent 


202  The  Epistles. 

we  know  nothing.  We  believe  tliat  Christ  will  come  to 
judge  both  the  quick  and  the  dead  ;  but  it  would  not  be  true 
of  any  one  of  us  that  we  are  living  in  special  expectation  of 
that  coming.  For  2,000  years  the  world  has  waited.  We 
know  not — no  human  being  pi'ofcsses  to  know — whether  the 
world  may  not  last  any  number  of  thousands  of  years  more. 
Any  one  who  says  that  he  is  now  living,  as  the  early 
Christians  did,  in  daily  expectation  of  Christ's  visible  return, 
must  (to  say  the  least)  be  a  man  of  exceptional  views.  No  ! 
we  do  look  for  His  coming  to  us  in  the  constant  daily  calls 
and  providences  of  life ;  we  do  look  for  His  coming  to  us  at 
the  hour  of  death ;  we  do  look  for  His  coming  to  us  in  the 
judgments  and  destinies  of  nations : — but,  since  the  Bridegroom 
delayeth  His  coming,  if  we  do  but  keep  our  loins  girded  and 
our  lamps  burning,  we,  like  even  the  wise  virgins,  so  far  as 
immediate  expectancy  is  concerned,  may  blamelessly  slumber, 
provided  that  when  He  comes  we  be  but  ready  to  spring  up 
at  once,  and  to  meet  His  call.  The  lessons,  then,  not  to  be 
disorderly;  not  to  eat  any  man's  bread  for  nought;  to  earn 
with  quietness  our  own  living ;  not  to  be  weary  in  well-doing  ; 
are  as  essential  to  us  as  to  the  poor  artisans  of  Saloniki  1,900 
years  ago.  A  sailor  once  leapt  overboard  to  save  a  comrade  at 
peril  of  his  own  life,  in  a  stormy  and  dangerous  sea,  and  was 
asked  when  rescued  "  if  he  had  thought  that  he  was  fit  to 
die  ? "  "I  should  not  have  been  made  more  fit/'  he  answered, 
"  by  declining  to  do  my  duty ; "  and  he,  too,  like  the  old 
Pilgrim  Father,  gave,  unconsciously,  the  very  essence  of  the 
Second  Epistle  of  St.  Paul  to  the  Thessalonians. 

4.  Christ  comes  in  many  ways.  In  some  way,  we  know  not 
How  ;  some  day,  we  know  not  When  :  it  may  be  this  very 
day ;  it  may  be  (for  to  Him  a  thousand  years  are  but  as  one 
day),  it  may  be  long  aeons  hence.  He  shall  return  in  Visible 
Presence  on  the  rolling  clouds  of  heaven,  with  ten  thousands 
of  His  saints.  But  meanwhile  to  each  of  us,  in  one  way  or 
other,  in  mercy  or  in  judgment ;  like  the  falling  dew  or  the 
flaming  fire  ;  by  natural  retributions,  or  in  special  providences ; 


Be  Ready.  203 

in  the  events  of  life,  or  at  the  hour  of  death,  Christ  comes. 
There  are  for  us  hut  two  lessons  as  regards  His  coming,  which 
this  EjDistle,  and  which  all  Scripture  teaches  ;  the  first  is, 
Be  ready  for  Him ;  the  second  is,  Be  ready  by  the  faithful 
performance  of  your  duties,  whatever  they  may  be,  in  that 
state  of  life  to  which  God  has  called  you. 

i.  Be  ready.  To  us,  as  to  the  world,  Christ  shall  come  as 
thieves  ^  in  the  night — "  In  an  hour  when  ye  know  not  the 
Bridegroom  cometh."  "  The  last  day  is  hidden,  that  all  days 
may  be  observed."  The  attempt  to  calculate  the  day  by 
Apocalyptic  dates  is  distinctly  anti-scriptural,  as  well  as  foolish. 
Christ  "  j)uts  down  the  childish  fingers  that  count  the  number 
of  the  days."  ^  The  lesson  to  us,  the  lesson  to  all,  is,  Watch. 
One  of  those  old  Jewish  Rabbis — the  Babbi  Joshua  Ben 
Laive — whose  lives  were  spent  in  watching  for  the  coming  of 
that  Messiah,  whom,  alas  !  though  He  had  come,  they  knew 
not,  tells  how  once  in  vision  he  asked  the  Prophet  Elijah 
when  should  Messiah  come  ?  "  Go  and  ask  Him,"  said  Elijah 
to  the  Rabbi.  "  Where  shall  I  find  Him  ? "  "  He  sits 
among  the  beggars  at  the  gate  of  Rome."  The  Rabbi  went 
and  found  Him,  and  asked  when  He  would  come.  "  To-day," 
was  the  answer.  The  Rabbi  returned  to  Elijah  the  Prophet 
and  told  him  the  story  ;  but  even  while  he  was  telling  it,  the 
day  was  over,  and  the  sun  had  set.  "  How  ? "  exclaimed  the 
Rabbi.  "  The  day  is  past,  and  He  has  not  come  !  Has  He 
then  sjDoken  falsely  to  me  ?  "  "  No,"  answered  the  Prophet ; 
"  what  he  meant  was,  '  To-day  if  ye  will  hear  His  voice.' " 
Yes,  and  that  too  is  a  summary  of  the  Second  Ej^istle  : — "  To- 
day if  ye  will  hear  His  voice,  harden  not  your  hearts."  ^ 

ii.  Be  ready  then  !  And  how  are  we  to  be  ready  ?  Not 
by  religious  excitement ;  not  by  intrusive  curiosity ;  not  by 
feeble  heresy-hunting ;  not  by  cheap  prophesying  the  exact 
year  in  which  the  world  is  to  end ;  not  by  going  about  and 

1  KXfTTTOS,   B. 

2  "  Onmes  calculantium  digitos  resolvit,"  Aug.  on  Matt.  xxiv.  3G  ; 
(juoted  by  the  Bisliop  of  Derry  in  Speaker's  Commentary. 

3  Sanhedrin,  f.  98,  1. 


204  The  Epistles. 

2  THEss.  asking  people,  "Are  you  converted  ?"  or,  "  How  is  your  soul  ?  " 
No;  but  by  humbly,  faithfully,  cheerfully  doing  what  God 
makes  it  clear  to  us  that  we  ought  to  do.  Religion  is  neither 
a  diseased  self-introspection  ;  nor  an  intrusive  impertinence ; 
nor  an  agonising  inquiry.  What  is  it  ?  It  is  the  way  of  the 
supreme  good,  plain  and  indisputable,  and  ourselves  travelling 
on  it.  It  should  be  "  an  all-embracing  heavenly  canopy,  an 
atmosphere,  a  life-element ; "  not  always  spoken  of,  but 
always  presupposed.  It  should  be  as  the  bottom  of  the 
ocean,  always  there,  always  necessary,  though  not  always 
seen.  "  It  was  the  custom  of  this  young  lady,"  says  a  great 
writer  of  fiction  (and  how  simply  beautiful  a  description  of 
the  spirit  of  true  religion  it  is),  "  it  was  the  custom  of  this 
young  lady,  to  the  utmost  of  her  power,  and  by  means  of 
that  gracious  assistance  which  Heaven  awarded  to  her  pure 
and  constant  prayers,  to  do  her  duty."  Let  us  do  our  duty, 
and  pray  that  we  may  do  our  duty  here ;  now  ;  to-day  ;  not 
in  dreamy  sweetness,  but  in  active  energy ;  not  in  the  green 
oasis  of  the  future,  but  in  the  dusty  desert  of  the  present ; 
not  in  the  imaginations  of  otherwhere,  but  in  the  realities  of 
now.  "  Man  never  is,  but  always  to  be  blessed,"  says  the 
poet ;  but  if  we  do  not  wring  our  happiness  out  of  the  fair, 
peaceful,  humble  duties  of  the  present,  however  great  its 
trials,  we  shall  never  find  it  in  the  weakened  forces,  in  the 
darkened  rays  of  the  future.  Our  duty  lies,  not  in  regrets ; 
not  in  resolutions  ;  but  in  thoughts  followed  by  resolves,  and 
resolves  carried  out  in  actions.  Our  life  lies,  not  in  retro- 
spect of  a  vanished  past;  not  in  hopes  of  an  ambitious 
future;  our  life  is  here,  now,  to-day;  in  our  prayers;  in  our 
beliefs ;  in  our  daily,  hourly  conduct.  If  we  have  realised 
this  we  have  learnt  the  lesson  of  St.  Paul's  second  letter  to 
the  Thessalonians.  If  we  have  learnt  this  we  are  not  far 
from,  yea,  we  are  in  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven.  If  we  have 
learnt  this  we  are  both  looking  for,  and  hasting  unto,  the 
cominnf  of  our  Lord. 


The  Man  of  Sin.  20^ 


NOTE  I. 

LEADING  FACTS   ABOUT    THE     SECOND    EPISTLE    TO   THE   THESSALONIANS. 

This  is  tlie  shortest  of  St.  Paul's  letters  to  any  Church. 

The  general  idea  is  patient  and  quiet  waiting  for  the  day  of  the 
Lord. 

The  key-note  is  ii.  1,  2,  "that  ye  be  not  quickly  shaken  (a-aXivdiivai) 
from  your  mind,  nor  yet  be  troubled  ...  as  that  the  day  of  the  Lord 
is  now  present ''"  (evearTjicev). 

The  peculiar  doctrinal  section  is  that  on  the  Man  of  Sin. 


NOTE  II. 

OUTLINE   OP  THE   SECOND   EPISTLE   TO   THE   THESSALONIANS. 

i.  The  Greeting  (i.  1,  2). 

ii.  The  Thanksgiving,  mingled  with  exhortations  and  prayers  (i.  3  -12  ; 
ii.  13-17)  ;  in  which  is  inserted 

iii.  The  doctrinal  section ;  the  Man  of  Sin  (ii.  1-12), 

iv.  The  practical  section  (iii.  1-16)  mingled  with  messages,  and  ended 
by  a  prayer. 

V.  The  autographic  conclusion  and  benediction  (iii.  17,  18). 

The  sections  flow  into  each  other  with  no  marked  separations.  Each 
of  the  prayers  (ii.  16  ;  iii.  16)  begins  with  Avtos  8e  6  Kvpioi. 

The  authenticity  of  the  Epistle  is  all  but  universally  accepted,  though 
Hilgenfeld  sees  in  it  "  a  little  Pauline  Apocalypse  of  the  last  year  of 
Trajan"  {Einleit.  642).  A  few  critics  (Grotius,  Ewald,  Baur,  Bunsen, 
Davidson)  think  that  the  second  Epistle  was  really  the  first ;  but  they 
have  found  hardly  any  followers.  External  and  internal  evidence  are 
alike  against  them. 


NOTE  III. 

THE  MAN  OF  SIN  (2  Thess.  ii.  1-12). 

This  passage  is  not  well  rendered  in  the  A.  V.  By  the  coming,  should 
be  "touching  (vnep)  the  Presence."  In  mind  should  be  "from  your 
sense."  Is  at  hand  should  be  "is  here."  A  falling  aii^a?/ should  be 
"  the  Apostasy."    Above  all  should  be  "  against  every  one."     As  God  is 


2  TUESS. 


206  The  Epistles. 

2  THESS.  probably  spurious,  not  being  in  N  A.  B.  D.  "EXeyov  should  be  "  I  used 
to  tell  you;"  tw  ^ivhi'i  "tlie  (not  a)  lie;"  KpidSxri,  "be  judged"  (not 
"  damned ")  ;  rot?  aTroWvfievois  "  the  perishing,"  &c.  These  inaccura- 
cies are  mostly  corrected  in  the  R.  V. 

"  No  man,"  says  Paley,  "  writes  unintelligibly  on  purpose."  St.  Paul 
wrote  this  passage  in  a  way  which  his  Thessalonians  could  understand 
because  they  had  his  oral  instructions  to  help  them.^  But  the  passage  is 
intentionally  written  so  enigmatically  as  to  render  it  obscure  to  any 
chance  "informer"  (delator)  who  might  drop  in  to  the  Thessalonian 
synagogue.  So  far  as  it  is  of  doubtful  meaning  it  can  have  no  special 
significance  for  us.  In  any  case  it  dwells  on  a  topic  to  which  St.  Paul 
never  again  recurred.  Henceforth  he  spoke  scarcely  at  all  on  the  Second 
Personal  Advent,  but  very  much  on  our  mystic  union  with  Christ. 

The  most  natural  supposition  about  the  passage  is  that  by  "the 
■^  checker"  (6  Kartxoif,  qui  claudit)  St.  Paul  meant  the  reigning  Emperor 

J,  Claudius  ;  and  by  "  the  check  "  the  Eoman  Empire. 

This  view — besides  the  fact  that  St.  Paul  is  speaking  not  of  the  Pope, 
Protestantism,  Mahomet,  &c.,  but  of  something  near  at  hand — has  in 
its  favour, 

1.  Early  Christian  tradition.  "  Quis  nisi  Romanus  status  ?"  Tert.  De 
Resurr.  Camis,  24  ;  comp.  A^wl  32  ;  Iren.  ITaer.  v.  25,  2(i ;  Aug.  De  Civ. 
Dei,  XX.  12  ;  Jerome,  Qu.  xi.  ad  AUjaa.;  Lactant.  D'lv.  Instt.  vii.  15,  &c. 

2.  Early  Rabbinic  notions.  "  The  Messiah  wQl  not  come  till  the  world 
has  become  all  white  with  leprosy  "  {i.e.  has  embraced  Christianity), 
Sanhedrin,  f.  97,  1.  Soteh,  f.  49,  2  (Amsterd.  ed.).  The  Jews  gave  to 
Antichrist  the  name  Armillus,  by  which  they  seem  to  mean  the  brace- 
leted  Caligula  {Armillatus,  Suet.  "  Calig."  52). 

3.  The  resemblance  to  the  language  of  Daniel  about  Antiochus 
Epiphanes  (Dan.  vii.  25,  xi.  36,  37),  who  is  also  called  a  "  Man  of  Sin  " 
{dvrip  afiapruXos,  1  Macc.  ii.  48,  62).  The  touches  of  description 
("  sitteth  in  the  temple  of  God,"  &c.)  are  evidently  suggested  by  the 
insane  attempts  of  Caligula  to  place  his  statue  in  the  temple  at  Jerusalem, 
and  to  the  stories  that  he  used  to  go  into  the  Temple  of  Jupiter  at  Rome, 
and  pretend  to  hold  conversation  with  him,  during  which  he  would 
sometimes  get  angry  and  frown  at  him. 

4.  The  fact  that  St.  Paul  is  evidently  touching  on  a  perilous  subject 
on  which  he  could  not  without  danger  to  his  readers  speak  more 
plainly. 

5.  The  fact  that  the  oral  teaching  to  which  he  alludes  had  already 
caused  a  charge  of  high  treason  to  be  brought  against  him  (Acts  xvii.  7, 
dntvaPTi  Tcbu  8nyp.dTa)v  Katcrapos  irpaTTOvai). 

6.  The  prophetic  resemblance  to  the  actual  course  of  events.     John  in 

*  "  Nos  qui  ncscimus  quod  illi  sciebant  perveuire  labore  ad  id  quod  sensit 
Apostolus  cupimus  uec  valemus." — S.  Aug. 


The  Man  of  Sin.  207 

the  Apocalypse  saw  the  Antichrist  in  Nero.  To  this  day,  as  Eenan  points      2  thess. 
out,  the  Armenian  name  for  the  Antichrist  is  Nereji,  and  Nero's  death 
was  followed  hy  the  fall  of  Jerusalem— the  coming  of  Christ  to  close 
the  Old  Dispensation. 

7.  The  exact  analogy  presented  hy  the  cautious  language  of  Josephus 
in  explaining  Daniel  (Jos.  Aiit.  x.  10,  §  4).  He  stops  short  in  order  to 
avoid  the  necessity  of  explaining  that  the  fourth  Empire  (which  he  takes 
for  Rome)  is  to  he  dashed  to  pieces  by  the  stone  cut  without  hands. 

The  perilous  jealousy  and  suspiciousness  of  Eoman  officialism  drove 
the  Christians  from  the  first  to  the  use  of  secrets  and  dim  allusions 
{Ix^^Os,  666,  &G.),  just  as  the  Talmudists  were  driven  to  similar  crypto- 
graphs by  similar  persecution  in  later  centuries.  The  mystery  lay  not 
in  the  facts  alluded  to,  but  in  the  symbols  by  which  it  had  to  be 
partially  concealed  from  those  who  were  not  in  the  secret. 

Baur,  who  is  always  suggestive  even  when  his  views  are  most  untenable, 
has  an  interesting  parallel  between  these  passages  and  the  Revelation  of 
St.  John  (Faid.  ii.  (3,  24,  f.  E.  T.). 


THE  FIRST  EPISTLE  TO    THE  CORINTHIANS. 

WIUTTEN   FROM    EPHESUS,   ABOUT   APRIL,   A.D.    57. 

"  Ecclesia  Dei  in  Corinlho :  laetum  et  ingens  paradoxon." — BEXGEii. 

"  Est  enim   haec  peviculosa  tentatio  nuUam   Ecclesiam    putare  ubi   non 
appareat  perfecta  puritas." — Calvin. 

"  Epistola  prior  ad  Corinthios  tota  contra  securitatem  liumanorum  cordium 
scripta  est." — Luther. 


"  Paul— to  the  Church  oY  God  which  is  in  Corinth." — 1  Cor.  i.  ],  2. 
1  CORINTH.  The  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  comes  next  in  chrono- 
logical order  after  the  two  to  the  Thessalonians.  It  was  written 
some  four  or  five  years  later.  After  writing  to  the  Thessa- 
lonians, St.  Paul  had  paid  a  brief  visit  to  Jerusalem,  and  had 
then  lived  for  nearly  three  years  at  Ephesus.^  He  had  thus  been 
nearly  four  years  absent  from  his  Corinthian  converts ;  and 
when  he  wrote  to  them  he  had  to  deal  with  so  many  topics 
that  it  will  be  impossible  to  do  more  than  briefly  indicate  the 
characteristics  of  this,  the  longest,  and  in  some  respects  the 
most  magnificent,  of  his  Epistles.  We  saw  that  the  leading 
idea  of  the  First  Epistle  to  the  Thessalonians  might  be 
summed  up  in  the  thought  of  hope  in  the  nearness  of  the 
Second  Advent ;  and  of  the  Second,  in  warning  against  un- 
profitable religious  excitement  arising  from  the  fancy  that 
that  Advent  would  instantly  occur.  The  First  Epistle  to 
I  See  Acts  .\ix.  10  ;  1  Cor.  xvi.  3-8. 


The  Corinthian  Church.  209 

the  Corinthians  is  capable  of  no  such  swift  summary.  It  i  corinth. 
deals,  on  the  contrary,  with  eleven  or  twelve  distinct  topics, 
and  it  intermingles  those  topics  with  weighty  and  memorable 
digressions.  In  it  we  see  the  method  of  St.  Paul  in  handling 
questions  of  Christian  casuistry — in  dealing  with  many 
difficulties  of  belief  and  practice.  The  endeavour  to  guide, 
amid  these  difficulties,  the  little  Christian  communities  which 
he  had  founded,  formed  no  small  part  of  that  heavy  burden 
which  daily  rested  on  him,  "  the  care  of  all  the  Churches," 

While  St,  Paul  was  at  Ephesus,  ApoUos  returned  to 
Corinth,  and  the  news  which  he  brought  of  the  condition  of 
the  Church  was  very  grave.  The  converts,  let  us  remember, 
were  but  a  small  body  in  a  large  city  of  some  400,000  in- 
habitants.^ When  we  speak  of  the  Apostolic  Churches,  we 
are  apt  to  forget  that  they  occupied  the  position  now  held  by 
solitary  ghettos,  or  small  Moravian  settlements,  or  isolated 
dissenting  communities.  The  members  of  these  little  bodies 
were  mostly  of  low  position,  and  some  of  them  of  shameful 
antecedents ;  ^  and  they  were  left  in  the  midst  of  a  heathen- 
dom which,  at  Corinth,  presented  itself  under  the  gayest  and 
most  alluring  aspects.  The  past  history  of  the  city,  the  beauty 
of  its  situation,  which  made  it  "  the  star  of  Hellas,"  the 
splendour  of  its  buildings,  the  activity  and  variety  of  its 
commerce,  arising  from  its  being  "  the  gate  of  the  Pelopon- 
nese  "  ^  and  the  "  bridge  of  the  sea ; "  ^  the  multitude  of 
slaves,  the  actual  slave-market,  the  mongrel  and  hetero- 
geneous population  of  Jews,  Greeks,  Romans,  Asiatics,  and 
Phoenicians;  the  confluence  of  sailors  and  merchants  from 
all  parts  of  the  civilised  world,  the  absence  of  ennobling 
traditions,  the  general  smattering  of  popular  philosophy,  the 
aesthetic  tastes,  the  sale  of  spurious  antiquities,  the  Isthmian 
games,  above  all,  the  consecration  of  impurity  in  the  worship 
of    Aphrodite   Pandemos,   the   thousand    Hieroduli   in   her 

'  1  Cor.  i.  2fi,  ov  TToWol  fuyevels. 

-  1  Cor.  V.  9,  10  ;  vi.  11  ;  Tavra.  rivts  yre  ;  2  Cor.  xii.  21, 
^  Find,  Ncm.  vi.  44,  •*  Xen,  Age.i,  2, 

P 


210  The  Ejnstles. 

1  CORINTH,  temple  on  Acrocorintlius,  all  contributed  to  this  result.  Corinth 
was  the  Vanity  Fair  of  the  Roman  Empire ;  at  once  the 
London  and  the  Paris  of  the  first  century  after  Christianity. 
In  the  Gentile  world  it  was  famous-infamous  for  dishonesty, 
debauchery,  and  drunkcnness.i 

It  is  not  in  a  day  that  the  habits  of  a  life  can  be  throAvn 
aside.  Even  the  most  sincere  of  the  converts  had  a  terrible 
battle  to  fight  against  two  temptations — the  temptation  to 
dishonesty  (TfXeove^ca),  in  their  means  of  obtaining  a  daily 
livelihood,  and  the  temptation  to  sensuality  (aKaOapa-ia), 
which  was  entangled  with  the  very  fibres  of  their  individual 
and  social  life.  So  long  as  Paul  was  with  them  they  were 
comparatively  safe.  The  noble  tyranny  of  his  personal  influ- 
ence acted  on  them  like  a  spell.  But  when  he  had  been  so 
long  away  ; — when  they  were  daily  living  in  the  great,  wicked 
streets,  among  the  cunning,  crowded  traders  and  the  aban- 
doned proletariat — in  sight  and  hearing  of  everything  which 
could  quench  spiritual  aspiration  and  kindle  carnal  desires,  in 
"  a  city  the  most  licentious  of  all  that  are  and  have  ever 
been"^ — when  the  careless,  common  life  went  on  around 
them,  and  the  chariot  wheels  of  the  Lord  were  still  afar,  it 
was  hardly  wonderful  if  the  splendid  vision  of  the  life  of 
heaven  on  earth  waxed  gradually  dim.  And  so  it  began  to 
be  with  some  of  them  as  it  was  with  Israel  of  old  when 
Moses  was  on  Sinai ;  they  sat  down  to  eat  and  to  drink,  and 
rose  up  to  play.  Many  of  them,  very  many — some  in  the  shame 
and  secrecy  of  a  self- wounded  conscience,  others  openly  justi- 
fying their  relapse  by  the  devil-doctrines  of  perverted  truth  * 
— had  plunged  once  more  into  the  impurity,  the  drunkenness, 

^  Even  in  modern  languages  "  Corintliians "  meant  profligate  idlers. 
"I  am  no  proud  Jack,  like  Falstafl",  but  a  Corinthian,  a  lad  of  mettle." — 
Shakspeare,  /.  Henry  IV.  ii.  4. 

In  Greok  KopivQiaCfcrdai  meant  "to  play  the  profligate." — Pollux,  ix.  6, 
§  75.     riato,  Rrp.  iii.  p.  404.     Further,  see  my  Life  of  St.  Paul,  ii.  553-573. 

'^  Dion.  Chrysost.  Orat.  Corinth,  (opp.  ii.  119,  ed.  Reiske.) 

'  1  Cor.  xi.  30,  TToWol  ofrflererr  koI  Ep^uarot,  XV.  32.  (payu/xeu  Ka\  ■ntwfifv, 
2  Cor.  ii.  17,  iis  oi  iroWol  (or  ol  Aoiiroi),  xi.  18,  ttoAAoI  KauxoUvTai,  xii.  21, 
irevQi)a(>)  voWovs. 


A  Letter  from  Corinth.  211 

the  selfishness  around  them,  as  though  they  had  never  heard    i  corinth, 
the  heavenly  calling  and  never  tasted  of  the  eternal  gift.^ 

So  much  at  least  Apollos  must  have  told  St.  Paul ;  and  he  ^ 

at  once  wi'ote  them  a  brief  letter,  now  lost.  It  was  probably 
a  mere  businesslike  memorandum,  informing  them  that  he 
meant  to  pay  them  a  double  visit,  and  asking  them  to  make 
a  collection  for  the  poor  saints  at  Jerusalem  ;  but  it  contained 
one  passage  which  in  a  short,  stern  phrase  bade  them 
not  to  keep  company  with  fornicators.  They  had  understood 
him  to  mean  "  with  a7iy  "  fornicators  ;  and  a  strict  obedience 
to  this  command  would  have  involved  nothing  less  than  abso- 
lute withdrawal  from  the  heathen  world.  He  explains  in 
this  Epistle  that  he  had  only  meant  "  any  Christians "  who 
still  continued  to  live  unclean  lives.^ 

Shortly  after  this,  a  letter  reached  him  from  the  Corinthians 
themselves.  It  was  a  discreditable  letter,  at  once  pompous 
and  reticent.  So  far  from  dwelling  on  the  ruinous  disorders 
which  had  sj)rung  up  among  them,  it  was  entirely  self- 
complacent  in  tone,  and  while  showing  much  doctrinal  and 
practical  perplexity,  touched  on  questions  which,  in  spite  of 
its  self-importance,  betrayed  the  existence  of  the  divisions, 
the  restlessness,  and  the  errors  which  the  Church  had  so 
disingenuously  concealed. 

I.  By  a  careful  study  of  the  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians 
we  are  curiously  able  to  reconstruct  this  letter,  and  even  to 
recall  some  of  its  very  phrases.  We  see  too  that  St.  Paul 
was  able  to  read  between  the  lines  of  its  half-confidences  and 

^  It  is  not  a  veiy  important,  though  a  voluminously  debated,  question, 
whether  during  his  three  years'  stay  at  Ephesus  St.  Paul  had  paid  any  visit  to 
Corinth.  If  he  had,  it  could  only  have  been  brief  and  eventless,  and  St.  Luke 
at  any  rate  leaves  it  unrecorded  (Acts  xix.).  The  notion  that  he  had  paid  this 
visit  is  founded  on  needless  straining  of  popular  expressions  in  1  Cor.  xvi.  7  ; 
2  Cor.  i.  15j  16  ;  ii.  1  ;  xii.  4-14,  21  ;  xiii.  1,  2.  "Let  us  give  up  the 
fiction  of  a  journey  for  which  we  can  find  no  reasonable  grounds." — (Baur, 
Paul.  ii.  320.)  It  is  however  fair  to  add  tliat  Neander,  Meyer,  Eeuss,  W. 
Grimm,  Ewald,  and  Hausrath  accept  this  supposed  xmrecorded  visit. 

2  See  1  Cor.  x.  1-14.  A  spurious  letter  of  the  Corinthians  to  Paul  and  his 
answer  are  preserved  in  Armenian.  They  have  been  published  by  "Wilkins, 
Fabricius,  and  Whiston,  and  have  been  translated  into  English  (among  others 
by  Lord  Byron,  see  Moore's  Life,  vi,  274) ;  but  they  are  valueless  forgeries. 

p  2 


212  The  Epistles. 

srxn.  whole  concealments.  The  inflated  self-assurance  of  its  tone 
did  not  disguise  from  him  the  uneasy  indication  that  his 
new  converts  were  in  a  perilous  moral  state.^ 

(i.)  After  greeting,  and  saying  that  they  remembered  him 
in  all  things,  and  kept  the  ordinances  as  he  delivered  them 
(1  Cor.  xi.  2),  the  Corinthian  Church  had  first  asked  their  great 
teacher  a  series  of  questions  about  celibacy  and  marriage. 
Was  married  life  wrong  ?  Was  celibacy  a  superior  condition  ? 
Were  second  marriages  permissible  ?  Were  mixed  marriages 
to  be  allowed  ?  Ought  fathers  to  give  their  daughters  in 
marriage,  or  to  keep  them  as  the  virgins  of  Christ  ?  ^ 

(ii.)  ThejvAvith  the  conceited  remark  that  "they  all  had 
knowledge"  (1  Cor.  viii.  1),  they  asked  him  about  meats 
offered  to  idols.  They  "  knew  that  an  idol  was  nothing  in 
the  world;"  might  they  then,  with  their  superior  "know- 
ledge," go  to  heathen  festivals  ? 

(iii.)  They  disagreed  about  the  niles  to  be  observed  in 
public  assemblies.  Ought  men  to  cover  their  heads  when 
they  worshij)ped,  after  the  Jewish  custom ;  or  to  keep  them 
uncovered,  according  to  the  Greek  custom?  Might  women 
appear  with  theu'  heads  uncovered  in  the  religious  meetings  ? 

(iv.)  Then  as  to  spiritual  gifts.  Which  was  the  more  im- 
portant— speaking  with  tongues  or  preaching  ?  and  how  were 
both  to  be  regulated  ?  ^ 

(v.)  Further,  they  had  great  doubts  about  the  Resurrec- 
tion.    Some,  perplexed  with  material  difficulties,  maintained 

^  The  Epistle  is  full  of  the  word  "inflation  "  by  ^vhich  St.  Paul  stigmatises 
the  vice  of  a  conceited  opiniativeness  {(pva-tovade,  iv.  6  ;  ((pvaiddrjcav,  18  ; 
TTiipvo'tcofj.ei'aiv,  19  ;  ■jre^'ucriai.usVoi,  V.  2  ;  r)  yvuTts  (pvaiot,  viii.  1  ;  t)  aydirri  ov 
(pvaiovrai,  xiii.  4  ;  (l>vffiw<Teis,  2  Cor.  xii.  20.  Elsewliere  the  word  only  occurs 
in  Col.  ii.  18. 

2  The  Corinthians  could  hardly  have  asked  these  questions  unless  they  had 
been  visited  by  some  teacher  from  Jerusalem  of  Essene  proclivities.  St. 
James,  the  Bishop  of  Jenisalem,  was,  according  to  Hegesippus,  a  Na2arite,  and 
both  to  him  and  to  his  kinsman  St.  Matthew,  Essene  practices  are  attributed 
( Hegesippus  ff^J.  Euseb.  //.  U.  ii.  23  ;  Clem.  Alex.  Paedag.  ii.  1).  Now  one 
branch  of  tlie  Essenes  looked  on  marriage  as  necessarily  and  essentially  de- 

7  grading.      It  was  j)roliaLly  in   the   seK-styled    "Christ-party"    that   these 

<■  notions  were  rife. 

5  St.  Paul,  in  writing  from  Corinth,  had  already  laid  down  in  1  Thess.  v.  19, 
20,  two  pregnant  principles  which  might  have  solved  these  difficulties. 


Questions  and  Scandals.  213 

that  the  Kesurrection  was  purely  spiritual,  and  that  it  was    l  corintu. 
past  already.     Would  Paul  give  them  some  solution  of  the 
difficulties  with  which  the  subject  was  surrounded  ? 

(vi.)  Paul,  in  his_(lost)  letter,  had  asked  them  to  establish         ^ 
an  offertory  for  the  poor  at  Jerusalem.    What  plans  would  he 
recommend  to  them  about  this  ? 

(vii.)  Lastly,  would  he  send  Apollos  back  to  them  ?     They  7 

had  enjoyed  his  knowledge  and  eloquence.  Would  Paul  try 
to  persuade  him  to  return,  and  also  pay  them  his  own  promised 
visit  ? 

Such  were  the  seven  m.ain  inquiries  of  a  letter  which  had 
been  conveyed  to  St.  Paul  at  Ephesus  by  Stephanas,  Fortu- 
natus,  and  Achaicus,  the  worthy  slaves  of  a  Greek  lady  named  7 

Chloe.  The  letter  was  in  itself  sufficient  to  awaken  some 
deep  misgivings  in  his  mind,  both  by  the  self-complacent 
assumption  of  its  tone,  and  by  the  restless  intellectualism  of 
its  speculations.  But  this  was  not  all.  St.  Paul  had  heard 
from  Apollos  some  hints  about  the  innovations  and  tur- 
bulence of  the  Achaian  Church.  But  when  he  came  to  talk 
further  with  the  slaves  of  Chloe,  and  they,  no  doubt  reluct- 
antly, bit  by  bit,  in  answer  to  his  questionings,  had  told  him 
all  the  truth,  then  he  stood  simply  overwhelmed  with  grief 
and  horror. 

For  he  learnt  (viii.)  that  the  Church  was  split  up  into 
deplorable  factions,  with  the  usual  accompaniment  (so  sadly 
illustrated  in  many  Churches)  of  "  strifes,  heartburnings, 
rages,  factions,  backbitings,  inflations,  whisperings,  disorderli- 
ness."  ^  Some  prided  themselves  on  their  breadth,  and  culture, 

^  2  Cor.  xii.  20  ;  tpeis,  Cv^°'j  6vixo\,  fpi$e7at,  KaTuXaXia],  xf/iOvpio-iiiol,  (pvatciaeis 
dKaraa-racrlai.  Hillel  had  said  "  many  teachers,  much  strife."  The  factious- 
ness at  Corinth  had  been  first  caused  by  the  visit  of  Apollos,  and  then  in- 
creased (probably)  by  wandering  missionaries  from  the  rank  and  file  of  parties 
at  Jerusalem  who  represented  (respectively)  the  views  of  Peter,  and  of  James 
"the  Lord's  brother."  St.  Paul  in  his  impetuous  way  reminds  them  that 
though  they  had  "  ten  thousand  pedagogues  (1  Cor.  iv.  15,  /xvplovs  watSaywyohs) 
in  Christ,"  yet  after  all  he  was  their  sole  sjiuitual  father.  This  "detestable 
and  unholy  spirit  of  faction,"  as  it  is  called  by  St.  Clement  of  Rome,  continued 
long  afterwards  (Clem.  Rom.  Ep.  ad  Cor.  i.),  and  was  "carried  to  a  pitch  of 
denientation  "  of  which  the  world  has  seen  many  subsequent  specimens. 


214  The  Epistles. 

and  philosophical  views,  and  said,  "  I  am  of  ApoUos ; "  others 
on  tlieir  sacerdotal  pretensions  and  ecclesiastical  correctness, 
and  said,  "  I  am  of  Cephas  ;  "  others  on  their  unsoj)histicated 
orthodoxies,  and  said,  "We  alone  preach  the  GosjDel;  we 
are  the  only  Christians — we  are  of  Christ." 

(ix.)  Then  not  unnaturally  these  party  factions,  which  rent 
and  deracinated  the  unity  and  wedded  calm  of  the  Church 
at  Corinth,  had  led  to  the  grossest  irregularities  in  their  very 
worship: — egotisms  of  rival  oratory,  mutual  recriminations 
in  sacred  places,  the  utterance  of  angry  and  even  blasphemous 
language  even  in  their  Sabbath  gatherings,  abuses  of  gloss- 
olaly  so  extreme  that  half-a-dozen  enthusiasts  would  be  on 
their  legs  at  once,  each  pouring  forth  a  jargon  of  unintel- 
ligible sounds.^  So  bad  was  the  state  of  things  that  there 
was  danger  lest  any  chance  Gentile  listener  should  set 
them  down  as  a  number  of  maniacs.^  Even  their  women 
— Christian  matrons — got  up  in  the  assemblies  and  gave 
their  opinions  with  a  positiveness  and  an  assurance  as  im- 
perturbable as  though  they  were  masters  in  theology.  So 
far  from  being  a  scene  of  peace,  the  Sunday  services  of  the 
Corinthian  community  were  a  battle-ground  of  contending 
factions, 

(x.)  There  was  worse  behind.  Even  in  their  social 
gatherings — the  Agapae  or  love  feasts — the  deadly  leaven  of 
selfishness  had  worked.  The  kiss  of  peace  was  interchanged 
by  Christians  who  were  going  to  law  with  one  another,  and 
that  before  the  heathen,  about  matters  of  ordinary  honesty. 
The  rich  greedily  devoured  their  luxurious  provisions  at  the 
common  table,  in  presence  of  the  poor,  half-starved  slaves — 
the  hungry-eyed  Lazaruses — who  had  little  or  nothing  of  their 
own  to  bring ;  and  these,  indignant  and  discontented,  watched 
with  hatred  and  envy  their  full-fed  brethren.  To  so  terrible 
an  extent  had  gluttony  and  worldly  pride  thrust  themselves 
into  the  most  sacred  unions,  that  men  nominally  Christian 

^  1  Cor.  xii.  xiii.  xiv.  passim. 

*  1  Cor.  xiv.  23  ;  ovk  ipovtriv  oji  fiaificrOe  ; 


Scandals  at  Corinth.  215 

had  been  seen   to  stretch  drunken  hands  to  the  very  chalice    1  corinth, 
of  the  Lord.^ 

(xi.)  Last  and  worst ;  there  existed  among  them  a  depraved 
casuistry — a  reckless  Antinomianism.  Not  only  had  unclean- 
ness  found  open  defenders,  but  one  prominent,  and  probably 
wealtliy,  member  of  the  Church  had  been  guilty  of  a  sin  on 
which  the  very  heathen  cried  shame ;  and  yet,  blinded  by  we 
know  not  what  strange  Rabbinic  sophistries,-  or  perverted  by  we 
cannot  tell  what  plausibilities  of  perverted  liberty,  the  Church, 
in  which  too  many  were  impenitently  guilty  of  the  impurity 
which  was  the  besetting  sin  of  Corinth,  had  actually  con- 
doned this  glaring  crime  !  ^ 

Such  was  the  state  of  a  Church  in  which  St.  Paul  had 
toiled  personally  for  eighteen  months,  and  in  which  his  fervent 
energies  had  been  seconded  by  such  loyal  workers  as  Silas, 
and  Timothy,  and  Titus,  and  ApoUos,  and  Sosthenes,  and 
Erastus.  Truly,  if  the  ideal  Church  be  the  spotless  bride  of 
Christ,  here  in  Corinth,  at  any  rate,  "  the  glory  of  the  orange 
flower  had  faded,"  the  whiteness  of  the  virgin  robe  was  stained ! 
We  often  hear  the  early  Church  spoken  of  as  though  we  had 
nothing  to  do  but  to  sit  at  her  feet,  and  learn,  and  weep  be- 
cause we  have  fallen  so  far  short  of  her  example.  That  is 
the  conventional  fiction;  very  different  is  the  hard  reality, 
as  Scripture  faithfully  reveals  it  to  us.  The  early  Church,  as 
represented  by  so  important  a  brotherhood  as  that  at  Corinth, 
though  Paul  had  laboured  there  so  long,  was  in  a  worse  con- 
dition than  the  worst  of  our  Christian  congregations.  The 
early  Church  was  the  Church  of  the  mustard  seed ;  ours  is 
the  Church  of  the  full-grown  tree. 

Thus,  then,  like  stroke  after  stroke  of  some  death-knell  to 
all  his  hopes,  the  evil  tidings  about  this  turbulent,  conceited, 

1   1  Cor.  xi.  21,  8s  (xev  ireiva  8s  Se  ixeeiei, 

-  The  Kabbis  held  that  proselytism  put  an  end  to  all  previous  relationships  ; 
and  possibly  some  Jewish  Christians  had  casuistically  applied  this  Halacha  of 
the  Scribes. 

3  2  Cor.  xii.  21.  In  no  Epistles  are  his  warnings  against  imcleanness  more 
solemn  and  emphatic,  1  Cor.  v.  11  ;  vi.  15-18  ;  x.  8  ;  xv.  33,  34,  &c. 


216  The  Epistles. 

NTH.    party-slmken,  clever,  restless,  backsliding  Church  of  Corinth 
fell  on  the  ears  of  St.  Paul.     It  seemed  like  the  shijiwreck  of 
every  fond  anticipation  which  had  sprung  up  in  his  mind  during 
his  mission  labours  of  a  year  and  a  half.     It  might  well  have 
caused  in  him  extreme  passion,  or  unmitigated  despair.     He 
might  have  sat  down  at  once  to  write  an  apocalyptic  letter, 
full  of  burning  denunciation,  against  these  imj)ure,  disunited, 
self-satisfied    disgracers  of   the  name  of   Christian, — rolling 
over  their  startled  consciences  thunders  as  loud  as  those  of 
Sinai.     Or,  suffering  and  harassed  as  he  already  was  by  the 
trials  and  persecutions  of  Ej^hesus,  he  might  have  folded  his 
hands  in  utter  despair,  and,  proclaiming  his  whole  life  to  be 
a  failure,  he  might  have  fled  like  Elijah  into  solitude,  saying 
"  Now,  O  Lord,  take  away  my  life,  for  I  am  not  better  than 
my  fathers."     He  did  neither — this  great,  this  indomitable 
man.     He  first  took  the  practical  steps  which  were  imme- 
diately necessary.     He  at  once  gave  up  for  the  present  his 
intended  visit  to  Corinth.     He  sent  a  messenger  to  Timothy 
^       to  tell  him  not  to  proceed  on  the  journey  to  Corinth  overland,^ 
f       on   which  he    had   been   already   despatched.     In   place  of 
Timothy  he  commissioned  the  bolder  and  more  active  Titus 
to  make  what  arrangements  were  most  immediately  pressing.'' 
^         Then,  calling  Sosthenes  to  his  side  as  his  amanuensis,  he  began 
to  dictate  to  him  this  astonishing  and  eloquent  Epistle.     He 
tells  us  himself  that  he  wrote  it  with  throbbing  heart  and 
streaming  eyes ;  ^  and  yet,  suppressing  his  emotion  to  the  ut- 
most, he  proceeded  to  deal  with  the  eleven  questions  and  topics 
— the  party  factions,  the  notorious  offender,  the  law-suits,  the 
questions  about  marriage,  about   meat  offered  to  idols,  about 
headdresses,  about  speaking  with  tongues,  the  Lord's  Supper, 
the  offertory,  and  the  Eesurrection — which  the  Corinthian 
missive  and  the  news  which  he  had  heard  had  forced  upon 
his  attention. 

>  1  Cor.  iv.  17  ;  xvi.  10. 
2  2  Cor.  xii.  18  ;  viii.  6. 

^  2  Cor.  ii.  4,  iK  yap  ttoAAtjj  6Ki\f/ews  koI  (tvvoxvs  tcapSias  fypa.\l>a  v/uv  5ii 
■KoWwv  SaKpvtcv. 


Intellectual  Force.  217 

Nothing  could  be  more  varied  than  the  elements  of  thought 
and  practice  with  which  he  was  thus  suddenly  called  upon 
to  deal.  He  had  to  heal  the  ravages  made  by  Greek  culture, 
and  Greek  rhetoric,  and  Greek  philosophy  upon  the  simplicity 
of  faith.  He  had  to  rebuke  alike  the  admixture  of  casuistical 
immorality  with  Christian  liberty,  and  the  encroachments  of 
"  voluntary  humility  "  upon  Christian  holiness.  He  had  to 
rebuke  Judaic  narrowness  and  spiritual  license.  He  had  in 
the  same  breath  to  deal  with  Hellenic  sensuality  and  Ebionite 
exaggeration.  For  the  first  time  he  was  called  upon  to  apply 
the  principles  of  Christianity  alike  to  the  most  opposite  per- 
plexities of  thought  and  to  the  wildest  diversities  of  practice. 
How  is  it  that  he  thus  shows  himself  perfectly  at  ease  whether 
he  is  moving  in  the  rarefied  ether  of  dogmatic  theology,  or 
steering  his  steady  course  amid  the  concrete  and  complicated 
realities  of  daily  administration  ?  It  is  because  problems 
however  dark,  details  however  intricate,  become  lucid  and 
orderly  in  the  light  of  eternal  distinctions.  "  The  eagle  which 
soars  through  the  air  does  not  worry  itself  how  it  is  to  cross 
the  rivers." 

If  this  letter  of  St.  Paul  be  compared  with  the  somewhat 
similar  letter  which  Gregory  the  Great  sent  to  St.  Augustine 
in  answer  to  inquiries  which  are  of  much  the  same  character 
as  to  arrangements  about  the  English  converts,  we  see  at  once 
how  immeasurably  more  decisive  and  minute  the  Pope  is  than 
the  Apostle.i  But  for  this  very  reason,  as  Mr.  Maurice  says, 
the  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  is  "  the  best  manual  for 
the  dudor  dulitantium,  because  it  teaches  him  that  he  must 
not  give  himself  airs  of  certainty  on  points  where  certainty 
is  not  to  be  had."  ^  Thus  in  the  very  difficult  questions  about 
marriage — which  seem  to  have  been  suggested  by  members 
of  the  Church  who  had  perhaps  imbibed  an  admiration  for 
the  practices  of  the  Essenes,  and  who  may  have  been  led  to 
their  particular  view  by  the  fact  that  our  Lord  lived  a  celibate 

^  The  letter  is  preserved  in  Bede. 

2  Maurice,  Unity  of  the  New  Testament,  p.  423.  See  Kuenen,  Profetcn,  ii. 
67  ;  Lord  Lyttelton  in  Contcmforary  Revicv),  xxi.  917. 


218  The  Epistles. 

1  coRixXTu.  life — St.  Paul  answers  hesitatingly.  He  docs  not  wish  to 
elevate  his  own  personal  leanings  into  a  rule  of  faith.  It 
would  have  been  well  for  many  of  the  early  and  mediaeval 
ascetics  if  they  had  imitated  in  this  respect  the  moderation 
and  humility  of  the  great  Apostle.^ 

And  yet  we  see  at  once  that  his  letter  was  not,  as  a  whole, 
uncertain  and  laborious,  but  swift  and  perfectly  spontaneous. 
St.  Paul  had  no  need  to  burn  the  midnight  oil  in  long  studies. 
He  had  that  divine  enlightenment  which  enabled  him  at 
once  to  see  to  the  heart  of  moral  difficulties.  Even  his  most 
elaborate  letters  were  not  in  reality  elaborate.  Their  most 
eloquent  passages  leapt  like  vivid  sparks  from  a  heart  in 
which  the  fire  of  love  to  God  burnt  until  death  with  an  ever 
brighter  and  brighter  flame. 

Before  we  proceed  a  step  further,  what  a  lesson  does  his 
conduct  teach  us  !  What  practical  good  sense  does  he  dis- 
play 1  What  noble  and  perfect  self-control !  What  power 
to  shake  off  a  despondency  which  would  have  been  so 
perfectly  excusable,  and  to  crush  down  deep  within  his 
heart  a  passion  and  resentment  which  could  hardly  have 
been  blamed !  What  a  lesson  to  us  who  are  so  easily  de- 
pressed and  discouraged  if  our  little  plans  fail,  and  our 
little  efforts  are  less  successful  than  we  could  desire !  And 
again,  what  a  model  of  controversy  and  of  wisdom  does  he 
furnish  to  the  Christian  Church  of  all  ages — a  model,  alas  ! 
how  little  imitated  !  How  clear  do  practical  details  become 
in  the  light  of  absolute  principles  !  How  different  is  the  per- 
spective under  which  we  see  the  hard  and  jarring  collisions 
of  Christian  opinion,  when  we  only  see  them  under  the  light 
of  that  brotherly  love  to  which,  infinitely  more  than  to  ortho- 
doxy or  knowledge,  is  granted  the  vision  of  all  things  in 
God  !  May  we  not  all  learn  from  this  fine  example  ?  When 
difficulties  surround  us  ;  when,  after  all  our  labours,  nothing 


*  The  way  in  which  asceticism  has  tampered  with  the  Greek  text  in  viL  3,_  6, 
and  the  comments  of  St.  Jerome  on  the  passage  show  how  different  a  spirit 
prevailed  at  a  later  period. 


Rehiike  of  Factiousness.  219 

seems  to  be  done  and  everything  remains  to  be  done ;  in  1  cokinth. 
the  midst  of  apparent  faihires,  in  the  midst  of  very  real  per- 
plexities, in  the  midst  of  the  babble  of  criticism  and  the 
strife  of  tongues,  let  us  like  St.  Paul  sit  down  bravely  at  once 
and  always  to  embrace  the  first  plain,  practical  step  of  duty 
which  seems  wisest  at  the  moment.  In  quietness  and  con- 
fidence, undeterred  and  undiscouraged,  let  us  take  the  best 
part  our  adult  spirits  can.  A  great  statesman  once  said,  "  I 
do  not  know  what  is  meant  by  painful  responsibility.  I  do 
the  best,  the  wisest,  the  utmost  thing  I  can ;  and  no  man  can 
do  more.  My  moral  responsibility  ends  with  the  use  of  my 
best  endeavours."  That  too  was  the  brave  and  practical 
spirit  of  St.  Paul.  God  had  given  him  work  to  do,  and  he  felt 
that  he  must  do  it,  and  ought  not  to  yield  to  discouragement 
in  it.     Duties  were  his ;  results  were  God's. 

It  is  not  here  our  object  to  enter  fully  into  the  manner 
in  which  St.  Paul  deals  with  the  eleven  topics  or  problems 
presented  to  him.  They  must  be  studied  by  each  reader  for 
himself.  We  only  now  need  to  consider  the  outlines  of  the 
letter. 

After  the  greeting,  and  a  guarded  thanksgiving  which 
dwells  on  spiritual  gifts,  not  on  moral  graces,  St.  Paul  pro- 
ceeds at  once  to  rebuke  and  correct  the  fatal  party  spirit  of 
the  Church ;  but  he  prepares  the  way  for  this  even  in  his 
greeting  by  "  nailing  them  down  "  (to  quote  St.  Chrysostom's 
expression)  to  the  name  of  Christ.  If  a  Church  be  truly  "  in 
Christ,"  there  may  be  differing  opinions,  but  there  cannot  be 
the  shameful  and  shameless  wranglings  of  party  hatred  and 
party  faction.  Hence  in  no  Epistle  is  the  name  of  Christ  so 
continuously  introduced.  It  occurs  no  less  than  nine  times 
in  the  first  nine  verses.  This  connection  of  Churcli  partisan- 
ship, of  the  conceit  of  knowledge  which  springs  from  it,  of 
the  want  of  love  by  which  it  is  fomented,  occupies  the  first 
four  chapters.  One  of  the  many  things  which  are  remark- 
able in  their  holy  irony  and  impassioned  appeal  is  that, 
though  one  of  the  parties  took  his  own  name,  St.  Paul  will 


220  The  Epistles. 

not  say  one  word  to  identify  liimself  with  any  of  the  parties, 
nor  will  he  say  which  section  of  wrangling  Churchmen  or 
wrangling  theologians  is  most  in  the  right  or  most  in  the 
wrong.  All  that  he  insists  upon  is  that  he  had  preached  the 
Cross  of  Christ,  because  he  knew  that  •'  by  the  foolishness  of 
the  thing  preached  "  ^  it  pleased  God  to  save  mankind.  What 
he  rebukes  is  the  spirit  of  party.  So  far  as  they  had  yielded  to 
that,  they  were  all  alike  in  the  wrong.  He  shows  them  that 
where  there  is  the  humility  of  true  wisdom — where  there  is 
the  simplicity  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ — where  there  is  a  right 
estimate  of  Christian  ministers  as  of  mere  human  instruments 
of  whom  nothing  is  required  but  simple  faithfulness — where 
there  is  a  due  apj)reciation  of  the  royal  privileges  of  every 
Christian  soul — where  there  is  sufficient  modesty  to  prevent 
every  ignorant  Christian  from  assuming  that  he  alone  pos- 
sesses an  absolute  monopoly  of  truth — there  the  spirit  of  party 
melts  away  in  the  pure  air  of  Christian  love. 

In  the  fifth  and  sixth  chapters  he  deals  with  the  case  of 
the  notorious  offender.  He  passes  on  him,  out  of  mercy,  and 
solely  to  secure  his  amendment,  a  stern  sentence,  and  warns 
them  to  shun,  and  to  exclude  from  the  brotherhood  of  Christ, 
all  whose  lives  notoriously  disgrace  it.  After  an  incidental 
rebuke  of  their  litigious  spirit,  he  gives  them  with  awful 
emphasis  those  arguments  against  impurity  which  had  never 
before  been  so  clearly  stated. 

Having  thus  far  corrected  disorders,  he  now  proceeds  to 
reply  to  inquiries. 

In  the  seventh  chapter  he  answers  their  questions  about 
marriage.  The  principles  are  stated  with  special  reference  to 
the  persecutions  and  peculiarities  of  that  epoch.  We  are  here 
furnished  with  Paul's  opinions  not  in  the  abstract,  but  as  a 
question  of  immediate  expediency  in  a  perilous  time  when 
the  coming  of  Christ  was  near. 

The  eighth,  ninth,  tenth,  and  the  first  verse  of  the  eleventh 
chapter  are  all  devoted  to  the  question  of  meats  offered  to 

^  Cor.  i.  21,  5io  t5js  fiwplas  rod  K-npiiy/xaros. 


Idol-offerings.  221 

idols.  It  was  a  problem  of  immense  importance  to  converts  l  corinth. 
from  heathendom,  because  they  could  hardly  buy  meat  in  the 
market,  or  go  to  any  social  entertainment,  without  being  con- 
fronted by  it.  It  was  in  fact  one  of  those  burning  questions 
on  which  timid,  conventional  men  usually  avoid  speaking, 
because  it  is  not  possible  to  speak  without  giving  offence 
to  one  side  or  the  other,  St.  Paul's  principles  are  clear. 
An  idol  is  nothing  in  the  world.  A  Christian  is  free.  He 
may  buy  in  the  market  what  he  will,  and  eat  what  is  set 
before  him  where  he  will,  without  morbid  worry  or  servile 
scrupulosity.  Thus  we  see  at  once  how  completely  St.  Paul, 
Jew  though  he  was,  abandoned  those  rules  about  meat  cere- 
monially clean  {Kashar)  which  to  this  day  are  so  burdensome 
to  the  modern  Jews.  In  spite  of  his  Kabbinic  training  he 
rose  indefinitely  superior  to  the  micrology  of  Rabbinism, 
Yet  he  would  not  let  his  own  breadth  of  view  be  a  stumbling- 
block  to  less  instructed  brethren.  If,  by  his  claim  of  liberty, 
others  were  led  to  assert  an  emancipation  which  wounded 
their  weaker  consciences,  then  since  kindness  is  nobler  than 
knowledge,  and  Christian  love  more  sacred  than  even  Chris- 
tian liberty,  every  good  man  ought  to  be  ready  to  give  up  his 
own  personal  rights  rather  than  endanger  his  brother's  soul.^ 

The  ninth  chapter  is  designed  to  prove  that  he  practised 
what  he  preached ;  for  though,  as  an  Apostle,  he  had  the 
fullest  right  to  claim  maintenance  at  their  hands,  he  had 
waived  the  right  in  order  to  cause  no  offence. 

In  the  tenth  he  warns  them  that  not  only  is  it  wrong  to 
show  deficient  regard  to  the  tender  consciences  of  weak 
brethren,  but  also  that  it  is  very  easy  to  use  liberty  in  such  a 
way  as  to  underrate  the  difficulties  and  temptations  which 
beset  our  earthly  life.  He  begs  them  therefore  to  imitate 
himself  in  abridging  their  own  rights,  and  so  to  avoid  the 
peril  of  themselves  perishing  or  of  causing  others  to  perish  by 
permitted  things. 

^  St.  Paul  does  not  even  refer  to  the  decision  of  the  synod  of  Jerusalem,  which 
was  a  local  and  temporary  compromise. 


222  The  Ejnstles. 

In  the  eleventh  chapter  he  settles  the  question  about 
covered  and  uncovered  heads/  and  sternly  rebukes  the  gross 
disorders  which  had  defiled  their  Eucharistic  feasts. 

In  the  twelfth,  thirteenth,  and  fourteenth  chapters,  of  which 
the  thirteenth,  the  paean  to  Christian  charity,  is  the  most 
glorious  even  in  the  writings  of  St.  Paul,  he  shows  that  the 
loftiest  spiritual  gifts  are  not  those  which  are  the  most 
dazzling,  but  those  which  tend  most  to  edification ;  and  that 
the  simplicity  of  holy  love  constitutes  the  golden  perfectness 
of  the  whole  Christian  life. 

The  fifteenth  chapter  is  the  magnificent  passage  in  which 
he  exposes  their  errors  and  resolves  their  doubts  about  the 
Resurrection — the  chapter  so  familiar  to  us  as  we  hear  it  in 
our  Burial  Service, 

"  When  our  heads  are  bowed  with  woe, 
"When  our  bitter  tears  o'erflow. 
When  we  mourn  the  lost,  the  dear." 

It  is  but  a  casual  chapter.  In  other  words,  it  is  no  elaborate 
and  premeditated  treatise  like  the  Phacdo  of  Plato,  but  the 
ready  resjDonse  to  some  suggested  perplexities.  Yet  who 
would  not  give  the  Pliacdo  of  Plato  in  glad  exchange  for  this 
simple  section  of  St.  Paul's  Epistle  ?  ^ 

St.  Paul  ends  the  letter  with  messages,  salutations,  and  a 
final  benediction. 

Such  then  is  the  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians.  It 
is  full  of  priceless  gems.  It  abounds  in  rich  digressions. 
Besides   the   two   immortal  passages  on  charity  and  on  the 


^  This  passage  (xi.  2-16)  is  not  a  mere  detached  paragraph.  The  fact  that 
women  claimed  the  right  to  appear  with  uncovered  heads  was  i)art  of  the 
self-assertion  which  he  is  combating. 

2  It  is  a  remarkable  and  interesting  fact  that  the  question  of  the  Kesun-ec- 
tion  had  at  this  epoch  received  fresh  prominence  from  the  asserted  re-appear- 
ance of  the  Phcenix  in  Eg3'pt  twenty  years  before  the  letter  was  written,  (Tac. 
Ann.  vi.  28,)  and  the  exliibition  of  a  live  Phanix  (!)  in  the  Comilium  of  Eome 
in  A.D.  47,  exactly  ten  years  before  this  letter  was  written,  (Plin.  H.  N.  x.  2.) 
Clement  of  Home  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  actually  appeals  to  the 
fable  of  the  Phcenix  as  a  collateral  proof  of  the  Pcsurrection.  At  that  epoch 
all  Gentiles  and  therefore  many  Cliristians  believed  in  the  existence  of  the 
Phoenix.  It  is  impossible  not  to  recognise  a  grace  of  superintendence  in  the 
fact  that  the  New  Testament  is  not  discredited  by  any  such  allusion. 


Practical  Lessons.  223 

Resurrection,   there   is   tlie  ironic  contrast  between  earthly    1  corinth. 

wisdom  and  heavenly  folly  in  chapter  one  ;  the  passage  about 

the  Christian  race  in  chapter  nine  ;  the  sketch  of  the  labours 

of  the   Apostles   in  chapter  four ;   the   enumeration  of  the 

appearances  of  the  risen  Christ  in  chapter  fifteen ;  and  many 

other  paragraphs  which  ever  since  have  been  inestimably  dear 

to  the  Christian  Church. 

It  would  require  many  a  thoughtful  hour  of  personal  study 
to  master  its  manifold  doctrines,  to  win  but  a  few  of  its  rich 
treasures.  But  three  main  lessons  which  dominate  the 
Epistle — not,  however,  including  the  splendid  episode  on  the 
Resurrection  —  may  be  summed  up  as  being  (1)  practical 
unity  amid  divergent  opinions ;  (2)  little  details  decided  by 
great  principles  ;  and  (3)  life  in  the  world,  yet  not  of  it. 

(1)  Divergent  oj^inions  in  Christian  communities  there  will 
ever  be,  and  they  will  be  harmless  if  only  they  be  blended,  like 
the  intentional  discords  of  some  great  piece  of  music,  in  the 
vast  harmony  of  love.  We  may  belong  to  parties  ;  but  let  us 
remember  that  the  more  of  partisanship  we  display,  the  less 
Christian  shall  we  be.  If  our  party  spirit  be  bitter  and 
unfair,  it  is  not  only  not  religious,  but  anti-religious — irreligious 
— yes,  even  though  it  dwell  on  religious  themes.  Partisanship 
is  generally  far  fiercer  in  the  cause  of  error  than  in  the  cause 
of  truth ;  but  Truth  herself  rejects  and  repudiates  with 
majestic  scorn  the  crude  and  bitter  champions  who,  in  thrust- 
ing themselves  forward  for  her  defence,  wound  to  the  death 
her  sister  Charity. 

(2)  Little  details  can  only  be  regulated  by  great  prin- 
ciples. Little  details  to  this  day — be  they  even  so  little  as 
the  position  of  a  celebrant  or  the  manner  of  a  genuflexion,  and 
even  after  eighteen  centuries  of  Christianity — may  sometimes 
give  trouble.  Little  questions  may  arise  about  the  authen- 
ticity of  clauses  and  the  value  of  manuscripts,  which  yet 
kindle  great  conflagrations.  If  we  would  be  scholars  of  St. 
Paul,  never  let  us  squabble  about  them  with  personal  recrimi- 
nations and  railing  indictments.     Let  us  refer  them  to  great 


224  TJie  Epistles. 

1  coRixTiT.  principles  and  tliey  will  cease  to  be  perplexing.  St.  Paul 
refers  the  questions  which  had  risen  in  his  day  to  two  great 
principles :  (i.)  Be  fully  persuaded  in  your  own  mind ;  i.e., 
never  do  what  your  conscience  tells  you  is  wrong ;  and  (ii.) 
Let  all  things  be  done  with  charity  ;  i.e.,  in  all  but  the  first 
essentials  it  is  better  to  waive  your  rights  and  your  opinions 
than  to  insist  on  them.  Follow  tliis  method  of  controversy, 
and  you  will  pass,  with  one  sweep  of  the  wing,  from  the  small 
exacerbations  of  petty  differences  to  those  great  ethereal 
realms  where  all  dark  clouds  and  all  human  colourings  are 
lost  in  the  boundlessness  of  light. 

(3)  Lastly,  we  must  live  in  the  world,  and  in  the  world 
we  must  often  come  in  contact  with  low  standards  and  sinful 
ways.  But  though  we  be  in  the  world,  we  need  not  be  of  it. 
A  diamond  may  fall  even  into  the  mire,  but  it  will  be  a 
diamond  still ;  or,  as  the  good  emperor  expressed  it — "  What- 
ever any  one  does  and  says,  I  must  be  good  and  true,  as 
though  the  gold,  or  the  purple,  or  the  emerald  were  always 
saying  thus :  whatever  hapj)ens  I  must  be  emerald  and  keep 
my  colour." 

Here  surely  are  great  lessons,  and  they  may  all  be  summed 
up  in  this  one  great  truth — that  the  life  of  the  Christian  is 
a  life  in  Christ,  and  that  a  life  in  Christ  is  a  life  of  peace,  a 
life  of  order,  a  life  of  humility  and  self-repression,  a  life  of 
purity,  a  life  of  love. 


Outline  of  the  Letter.  225 


NOTE  I. 

LEADINa  IDEAS   OF   THE   FIRST   EPISTLE   TO   THE   CORINTHIANS. 

The  Epistle  is  occupied  with  questions  of  morality  and  Church  disci- 
l)line.     The  Apostle  dwells  on, 

1.     Love  and  unity  amid  divergent  opinions. 

ii.    The  decision  of  small  details  by  great  principles. 

iii.  Life  in  the  world,  not  of  it. 

It  is  specially  interesting  as  showing  us  the  conditions  of  life  in  an 
early  Cliristian  Church  in  all  their  variety  and  fulness  ;  and  the  masterly 
rowers  of  government  and  prompt  decision  displayed  by  St.  Paul. 


NOTE  IL 

OUTLINE   OF  THE  LETTER. 

1.  Greeting  (i.  1-3). 

2.  Thanksgiving  (i.  4-9). 

3.  The  sin  of  party  spirit  (i.  10-iv.  21). 

4.  Disorders  in  the  Corinthian  Church. 

i.  The  incestuous  offender  (v.  1-13). 
ii.  Lawsuits,  &c.  (vi.  1-11). 
iii.  Impurity  (vi.  12-20). 

5.  Answers  to  the  Corinthian  inquiries,  and  cognate  matters. 

i.  Concerning  marriage  and  celibacy  (vii.  1-40). 
ii.  Concerning  things  offered  to  idols  (viii.   1-x.  33)  illustrated 
by   St.  Paul's  own  example    of   foregoing   his  own  just 
rights  (ix.)  and  warnings  against  the  abuse  of  Christian 
freedom  (x.) 
iii.  Regulations  about  gatherings  for  worship. 
a.  As  to  covering  the  head  (xi.  1-16). 
^.  As  to  the  Agapae  and  the  Lord's  supper  (xi.  17-34). 
y.  As  to  the  abuses  of  glossolaly  (xii.-xiv.  40)  which  would 
be  rendered  impossible  if   Christians  recognised   the 
supremacy  of  love. 
iv.  Concerning  the  Resurrection  (xv.) 
V.  Concerning  the  collection  for  the  poor  saints  (xvi.  1-4). 

6.  Personal  messages  and  exhortations  (xvi.  5-18). 

7.  Salutations  (xvi.  19  -20). 

8.  Autograph  conclusion  (xvi.  21-24). 


22G  The  Epistles. 


1  cuuiNTU.  NOTE  III. 

DATES   IN   THE   HISTORY   OP   CORINTH. 

The  lAain  previous  moments  in  the  history  of  Corinth  were, 

B.C. 

243.     Aratus  and  the  Achaean  League. 

197.     Battles  of     Cynocepliahie.      Corinth    occupied    by  a  Koraan 

garrison. 
146.     Corinth  taken  and  burnt  by  L.  Mummius. 
4G.     The  Colonia  Julia  Corinthus  founded  by  Julius  Caesar,  and 
peopled  with  old  Italian  veterans  (Corinthienses  not  Corinthii). 
A.n. 
52.     St.  Paul  founds  Christianity  in  Corinth.     Gallio  Proconsul  of 
Achaia. 
S^'  57.     St.  Paul'^letterto  the  Church  of  Corinth. 

/  95.     Clement  of  Rome  writes  to  the  Church  of  Corinth. 

/  135.     The  Church  of  Corinth  visited  by  Hegesippus.    (Euseb.  H.  E. 

'■  iv.  22.) 

174.     Corinth  visited  and  described  by  Pausanias. 

For  ancient  descriptions  of  the  city,  see  Livy,  xiv.  28  ;  Stat.  TJieb.  vii. 
106  ;  Claudian,  De  Bell.  Get.  188  ;  Pausanias,  ii.  2  ;  Strabo,  viii.  p.  379. 
For  modem,  see  Leake,  Peloponnesiaca.,-p.  392  ;  Morea,  iii.  229  ;  Curtius, 
Pelopon7iesfls,  ii.  514;  Byron,  Siefje  of  Corinth;  and  Clark,  PeZojjou- 
nesus,  pp.  42-61. 


THE    SECOND     EPISTLE    TO    THE 
CORINTHIANS. 

WRITTEN    AT    PHILIPPI    (?)   A.D.    57    (LATE)    OR   A.D.    58 

(early). 


"Tliere  are  three  crowns  ;  the  crown  of  the  Law,  the  ci'own  of  the  Priest- 
hood, and  the  crown  of  Royalty  ;  but  the  crown  of  a  Good  Name  mounts  above 
them  all." — Pirke,  Avoth.  iv.  19. 


"I   write   tliese   things   being  absent,    lest   being   present   I   should    use 
sharpness." — 2  Cor.  xiii.  10. 

Circumstances  sometimes  arise  in  life  which  induce,  and  2  corinth, 
ahiiost  compel  men,  who  are  otherwise  of  the  most  reserved 
and  retiring  disposition,  to  draw  aside  the  veil  of  natural 
reticence,  and,  at  the  cost  of  whatever  pain,  to  speak  to  the 
world  of  themselves,  of  their  motives,  and  of  their  claims. 
A  man  who  occupies  a  prominent  public  position,  who  wields 
a  large,  and  desires  to  wield  a  beneficent  influence,  who, 
whatever  may  be  his  imperfections  in  the  sight  of  Him 
before  whom  the  very  heavens  are  not  clean,  has  an  honoured, 
and  as  far  as  man  is  concerned  a  deservedly  honoured  name 
— is  not  altogether  his  own.  His  life,  his  actions,  his 
motives  are  to  a  certain  extent  public  property.  It  may  not, 
therefore,  be  in  all  cases  right,  or  even  possible,  for  him  to 
leave  slanderous  imputations  to  perish  of  their  own  inherent 
rottenness.  That  is  no  doubt,  in  ninety-nine  cases  out  of 
every  hundred  (as  every  sensible  man  is  aware),  the  only 
wise  and  proper  course.     No  man,  who  emerges  ever  so  little 

Q  2 


228  The  Epistles. 

above  the  crowd,  has  ever,  since  tlie  world  began,  wholly 
escaped  attacks.  The  thistles  gather,  in  their  tangled  growth, 
round  the  foot  of  the  cedars  of  Lebanon,  and  fires  which 
come  forth  from  the  crackling  brambles  scathe  often,  if  they 
cannot  wholly  devour,  the  forest  trees.  The  stainless  purity  of 
Joseph  did  not  save  him  from  accusation ;  nor  the  perfect 
meekness  of  Moses;  nor  the  splendid  services  of  Samuel. 
Elijah  was  a  glorious  patriot,  and  his  king  met  him  with  the 
question,  "  Art  thou  he  that  troubleth  Israel  ? "  Shimei 
cursed  and  flung  dust  at  David.  Of  the  Baptist's  stern,  self- 
denial  men  could  only  say  "  He  hath  a  devil ; "  of  the 
Saviour's  boundless  sympathy,  "Behold  a  gluttonous  man  and 
a  winebibber."  And  if  they  called  the  Master  of  the  house 
Beelzebub,  how  much  more  them  of  His  household  ?  The 
early  Christians  were  accused  on  all  sides  of  infant-murder 
and  Thyestean  banquets.  Athanasius,  Calvin,  Luther,  were 
charged  with  the  most  flagrant  iniquities.  The  life  of 
Richard  Hooker,  the  most  honoured  divine  of  the  Church  of 
England,  was  embittered  by  a  wicked  lie.  The  saintly 
Francis  de  Sales  was  charged  with  levity  and  impurity.  St. 
Vincent  de  Paul  long  laboured  under  an  imputation  of  theft, 
George  Whitefield  spent  his  life  amid  a  roar  of  execration. 
Four  years  ago  died  one  of  our  noblest  and  bravest  prelates, 
and  he,  in  the  colony  to  which  he  had  devoted  his  vast  self- 
sacrifice,  knew  what  it  was  to  be  greeted  by  the  cry  "  Three 
groans  for  Bishop  Selwyn."  Few  modern  statesmen,  few 
modern  writers,  few  public  men  of  any  kind,  are  so  fortunate 
as  to  escape  misrepresentation.  ]\Iost  of  them  take  it  as 
a  matter  of  course, — as  much  a  matter  of  course  as  sick- 
ness, or  old  age,  or  bereavement,  and  wisely  and  quietly  let 
it  alone.  A  good  man's  life  is  generally  sufficient  to  defend 
itself;  and  sooner  or  later  in  the  justice  of  Heaven  the 
curse  and  the  falsehood  rebound  upon  the  head  of  him 
who  uttered  them.  "  They  say  !  What  say  they  ? — Let  them 
say," — is  the  best  attitude  to  adopt  in  an  age  ignobly  pre- 
eminent for  gossip.     "My  accuser  says  that  I  have  taken 


Apologia.  229 

bribes    from  the    enemy.     I,  M.  Aeniiliiis  Scaurus,   deny  it.    2  corinth. 
Utri  crcditis,  Quiritcst     Which  of  the  two  do  you  believe, 
gentlemen  ? "    A  noble  Roman  considered  that  to  be  a  sufficient 
defence  ;  and  a  good  man  may  usually  do  the  same. 

But,  as  I  have  said,  it  is  sometimes  necessary  for  the  sake 
of  others,  to  enter  upon  self-defence.  We  have  a  conspicuous 
example  in  this  generation.  One  of  its  most  honoured  and 
saintly  characters,  stung  by  what  he  regarded  as  an  undeserved 
taunt,  wrote  an  AiJoJogia  pro  Vita  Sua,  which  has  added  a 
valuable  book  to  the  treasure-house  of  Christian  litera- 
ture. In  that  book  he  gives  a  sketch  of  his  biography,  and 
of  his  ojiinions,  so  far  as  seemed  desirable  for  the  public 
advantage.  In  such  conduct  there  is  neither  vanity  nor 
egotism.  It  is  the  answer  of  a  good  conscience  towards  God, 
declared  also  to  men,  that  they  may  be  ashamed  who  falsely 
accuse  our  good  conversation  in  Christ. 

I  have  touched  on  these  considerations  because  the  Second 
Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  is,  in  the  first  century,  a  writing  of 
exactly  the  same  origin  and  character  as  Cardinal  Newman's 
Apologia  in  the  nineteenth.  It  is  the  Apostle's  answer  to 
them  that  accused  him.  It  is  St.  Paul's  Apologia  jJro  Vita 
Sua — his  self-defence  against  an  outburst  of  opposition  and 
calumny.  It  was  necessary  to  defend  himself  because  he 
was  only  attacked  out  of  hatred  to  the  Gospel  which  he 
preached  to  the  Gentiles.  His  present  object  may  be  summed 
up  in  the  tenth  verse  of  the  fifth  chapter — "  For  we  commend 
not  ourselves  again  unto  you,  but  give  you  occasion  to  glory 
on  our  behalf,  that  ye  may  have  somewhat  to  answer  them 
which  glory  in  appearance,  not  in  heart." 

2.  Soon  after  St.  Paul  had  written  his  first  extant  letter  to 
Corinth,  there  occurred  at  Ephesus  that  terrible  riot  which  is 
described  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  and  which  (as  we 
gather  from  scattered  allusions)  was  even  more  perilous  and 
agitating  to  the  Apostle  than  we  might  at  first  have  supposed.^ 

1  Lang,  in  the  Protestanten  Bihcl,  conjectures  from  2  Cor.  i.  8-10,  compared  p 

with  iv.  8,  9,  that  in  the  tumult  at  Eplaesus,  St.  Paul,  hunted  through  the  V 


230  The  Epistles. 

Rescued  from  this  terrible  danger  by  the  devotion  of  Aquila, 
Priscilla,  and  other  friends,  who  risked  their  own  lives  for  his, 
he  went  straight  to  Troas,  and  once  more  began  to  preach 
(2  Cor.  ii.  12,  18).  But  tliough  his  preaching  was  blessed — 
though  "  a  door  was  opened  for  him  in  the  Lord  " — he  forgot 
himself  in  anxiety  about  the  feelings  of  his  converts.  He 
could  not  stay  at  Troas  from  extreme  anxiety  to  know  the 
effect  produced  upon  tlie  Corinthians  by  the  severity  of  his 
letter,  and  especially  by  his  sentence  upon  the  notorious 
offender.  He  had  told  Titus  to  rejoin  him  there,  and  bring 
him  news ;  but  either  Titus  had  been  delayed,  or  the  pre- 
cipitation of  Paul's  escape  from  Ephesus  had  brought  the 
Apostle  to  Troas  earlier  than  Titus  had  expected.  At  any 
rate  at  Troas  he  had  no  rest  for  his  spirit,  because  he  found 
not  Titus  his  brother.  And  since  he  grew  more  and  more 
uneasy,  at  length  (ii.  18),  his  oppression  of  spirit  became  so 
intolerable  that  he  could  work  no  more,  and  hurried  from 
Troas  into  Macedonia.  There — at  last — probably  at  Philippi 
he  met  Titus.  What  Titus  said  to  him  the  Apostle,  in  his 
eagerness,  forgets  to  tell  us ;  but  it  appears,  from  the  burst  of 
thanksgiving  at  the  close  of  the  chapter,  that  he  brought 
news  which,  though  chequered,  was  on  the  whole  favourable. 
The  elBfect  of  the  severe  letter  had  been  to  a  great  extent 
satisfactory.  It  had  caused  among  the  Corinthian  Christians 
a  salutary  grief  Vvdiich  had  shown  itself  in  yearning  affection 
and  remorseful  endeavour  to  amend.  Titus  himself  had 
been  received  cordially,  yet  with  fear  and  trembling.  The 
offender,  if  he  had  not  been  dealt  with  exactly  as  Paul  had 
ordered  ^ — which  was  perhaps  rendered  unnecessary  by  his 
repentance — had  still  been  visited  by  the  majority  with 
severe  reprobation.     Accordingly,  he  sent  Titus  back — and 


streets,  driven  into  a  corner,  ami  dashed  to  tlie  ground,  had  barely  escaped 
with  his  life,  and  had  suffered  severe  bodily  injiuies  from  which  he  had  scarcely 
yet  recovered. 

*  Tliis  Roenis  clear  from  a  comparison  of  1  Cor.  v.  3-5,  with  2  Cor.  ii.  5-10. 
Had  Titus  boon  the  bearer  of  another  short  letter,  no  longer  extant '  It  is  a 
question  which  we  cannot  answer. 


Attaclis  on  St.  Paul.  2:>1 

with    liim    Luke — to    finish    the   good   work  which  he  had 
begun.^ 

On  the  other  hand,  there  had  arisen  against  St,  Paul  a 
defiant  and  influential  opposition  from  the  ^_tii:ii_Judaic 
factions  which  called  themselves  the  Cephas-party  and_the 
Christ-party,  who  attacked  him  with  every  weapon  of 
fanatical  religious  hatred.  His  change  of  plan  in  not  paying 
them  a  double  visit  had  led  to  much  unfavourable  criticism. 
Many  injurious  remarks  on  his  character  and  mode  of  action 
had  been  industriously  disseminated,  especially  by  certain 
itinerant  Judaic  teachers,  who  were  unhappily  countenanced, 
or  at  any  rate  professed  to  be  so,  by  commendatory  letters 
from  Christian  Pharisees  in  the  Church  of  Jerusalem.  These 
factious  partisans,  as  we  see  from  the  undercurrent  of  self- 
defence  which  runs  so  strongly  throughout  the  letter,  had 
said,  or  at  least  insinuated,  that  Paul  was  a  man  who  was  so 
capricious  as  not  to  know  his  own  mind;  that  he  wrote  private 
letters  to  intrigue  with  individual  members  of  his  congrega- 
tion ;  that  there  were  good  reasons  why  he  had  no  com- 
mendatory letters  to  show  ;  that  there  was  a  great  deal  in  his 
antecedents  which  would  not  bear  examination ;  that  he 
walked  craftily,  and  adulterated  the  Word  of  God.  Now 
St.  Paul  had  a  human  heart,  not  an  artificial  one ;  and  he 
does  not  even  pretend  that  such  calumnies  did  not  sting  and 
wound  him.  They  stung  him,  and  all  the  more  because  they 
came  upon  him  at  a  time  of  great  mental  discouragement 
and_ghy^al_j3rostraMQEL4iyj  §.^  when,  as  he  said,  "our 
flesh  had  no  rest,  but  we  are  troubled  on  every  side ;  from 
without  fightings,  from  within  fears"  (vii.  5).  We  can  under- 
stand the  phenomena  of  a  letter  written  under  such  circum- 
stances. If  Hope  is  the  key-note  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Thessalonians,  Joy  of  that  to  the  Philippians,  Faith  of  that 
to  the  Romans,  the  Heavenlies  of  that  to  the  Ephesians, 
"  tribulation  "  is  the  one  predominant  word,  and  "  consolation 
under  tribulation"  the  one  predominant  topic  of  the  first 
>  2  Cor.  vii.  6  11, 13^15  ;  viii.  6.  18.  '23. 


232  The  Epistles. 

2  coRiN-TH.  great  section  of  the  second  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians.  These 
two  words,  tliough  unfortunately  varied  by  synonyms  in  the 
English  version,  occur  again  and  again  inextricably  inter- 
twined in  the  first  chapter.  Thus,  in  the  third  and  fourth 
verses  we  read,  "Blessed  be  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  the  Father  of  Mercies,  and  God  of  all  consola- 
tion, who  consoleth  us  in  all  our  tribulation,  that  we  may  be 
able  to  console  those  in  all  tribulation,  by  the  consolation 
wherewith  we  are  ourselves  consoled  by  God."  This  incessant 
recurrence  of  the  same  words — now  "  tribulation,"  ^  now 
"  consolation,"  ^  now  "  boasting,"  ^  now  "  weakness,"  *  now 
"  simplicity,"  ^  now  "  manifest "  and  "  manifestation  "  ^  now 
"  folly,"  ^ — are  characteristic  of  the  extreme  emotion  of 
mind  in  which  the  letter  was  written.  The  manner  in  which 
thankfulness  and  indignation  struggle  with  each  other,  the 
difficult  expressions,  the  abrupt  causal  connections,  the 
labouring  style,  the  iteration  of  taunting  words,  the  inter- 
change of  bitter  irony  with  pathetic  sincerity — only  serve  to 
throw  into  stronger  relief  the  frequent  outbursts  of  im- 
passioned eloquence.  The  depth  of  tenderness  which  is  here 
revealed  towards  all  who  are  noble  and  true,  may  serve  as  a 
measure  for  the  insolence  and  wrong  which  provoked,  in  the 
concluding  chapters,  so  stern  an  indignation.^  Of  all  the 
Epistles  this  is  the  one  which  teaches  us  most  of  the  Apostle's 
personality.  It  enables  us,  as  it  were,  to  lay  our  hands  upon 
his  breast,  and  feel  the  very  throbbings  of  his  heart.  If  you 
would  know  St.  Paul  as  he  was,  you  must  study  the  Epistle 
again  and  yet  again. 

3.  Hence  of  all  his  letters  this  is  the  least,  as  the  First 

J  0Ai\//(s,  e\i0o/j.ai,  i.  4,  6,  8  ;  ii.  4  ;  iv.  8,  17  ;  vi.  4  ;  vii.  4  ;  viii.  13. 

-  irapaKArjorts,  eleven  times  ;  the  verb  17  times. 

^  Twenty-nine  times  in  1  and  2  Cor. 

*  aaeivfia,  2  Cor.  xi.  30  ;  xii.  5,  9,  10  ;  xiii.  4,  &c. 

f-  olttXiJttjs,  i.  12  ;  viii.  2  ;  ix.  11,  13  ;  xi.  3. 

•*  <pavip6u>,  ii.  14  ;  iii.  3  ;  iv.  10  ;  v.  10,  11  ;  vii.  12  ;  xi.  6. 

7  2  Cor.  xi.  1,  16,  17,  19,  21  ;  xii.  6,  18. 

'  St.  Panl  assnmcs  tliat  lie  may  rely  on  the  loyalty  of  the  majority  ;  hence 
liis  appeal  to  viius  iravTts  (ii.  3-5  ;  iii.  18  ;  v.  10  ;  vii.  13  ;  xiii.  13),  whereas 
the  opponents  are  only  riv^s  (iii.  1  ;  x.  2,  7,  12  ;  xi.  4  ;  xiii.  21,  &c.). 


Self-defence.  233 

Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  is  the  most  systematic.  Indeed  2  corinth. 
the  order  of  its  thoughts  might  almost  be  called  geographical, 
as  he  passes  in  memory  from  the  dangers  of  Ephesus  to  the 
anxiety  of  Troas,  to  the  afflictions  of  Macedonia,  and  to  the 
dark  prospect  of  his  coming  visit  to  Corinth.^  But  this 
historical  thread  of  the  Epistle  is  interwoven  with  digressions. 
After  the  greeting,  the  thanksgiving  and  an  allusion  to  the 
fearful  trials  through  which  he  had  just  passed  in  Asia,  he 
proceeds  at  once  to  defend  himself  from  accusations  of  levity 
and  insincerity  in  having  postponed  his  intended  visit.  He 
tells  them  that  if,  on  this  account,  they  charged  him  with 
saying  now  "  yes,"  and  noAV  "  no,"  with  the  shiftiness  of  an 
aimless  man,  there  was  at  any  rate  in  his  teaching  one 
emphatic  "yes,"  and  one  unchangeable  "Amen";  the  in- 
finite "  yes  "  of  God  in  Christ,  and  the  everlasting  Amen  of 
the  Christian  to  all  God's  promises.  And  then  he  calls  God 
to  witness  that  it  was  to  spare  them  that  he  had  not  come ; 
because  he  did  not  like  to  visit  them  in  grief.  As  for  the 
offender,  he  had  repented,  and  their  obedience  had  been 
tested.  If  they  forgave  the  man,  Paul  forgave  him  too. 
Then  he  tells  them  of  his  anxiety  as  to  the  effects  of  his 
letter,  and  ends  the  second  chapter  with  a  paean  of  eucharist 
to  God  who  led  him  in  triumph  through  the  willing  captivity 
of  his  weary  life. 

Then  in  the  third  chapter  he  asks.  Is  this  self-commenda- 
tion ?  does  he  need  commendatory  letters  to  them  ?  Nay, 
they  were  themselves  his  commendatory  letter ;  a  letter  which 
he  had  himself  administered.  And  since  this  reminds  him  of 
the  grandeur  of  his  ministry,  he  compares  its  eternal  glory 
with  the  evanescence  of  the  transient  glow  on  the  face  of 
Moses,  and  proceeds  to  contrast  the  splendour  of  the  ministry 
with  the  weakness  of  the  ministers.  Like  the  torches  hid  in 
Gideon's  pitchers,  their  treasure  of  light  was  in  earthen 
vessels,  that  the  glory  might  be  God's,  not  theirs.  This  was 
why  they  were  in  everything  "  afflicted  yet  not  crushed ; 
^  "  Tota  Epistola  itiuerarium  sapit." — Bengel. 


234  The  Epistles. 

2  CORINTH,  perplexed,  but  not  in  despair  ;  persecuted,  but  not  forsaken  ; 
cast  down,  but  not  destroyed."  This  theme — defending  him- 
self against  charges  of  folly  and  insincerity — he  pursues  to  the 
sixth  chapter,  in  which  he  breaks  out  into  a  noble  appeal.^ 
He  says  that  he  and  his  friends  strove  to  commend  them- 
selves as  ministers  to  God  "  in  much  endurance,  in  tribula- 
tions, in  necessities,  in  pressure,  in  blows,  in  prisons,  in 
tumults,  in  toils,  in  spells  of  sleeplessness,  in  hungerings,  in 
pureness,  in  knowledge,  in  long-suffering,  in  kindness,  in  the 
Holy  Spirit,  in  love  unfeigned,  in  the  word  of  truth,  in  the 
power  of  God  ;  by  the  arms  of  righteousness  on  the  right 
hand  and  on  the  left;  by  ill  report  and  good  report;  as 
deceivers,  and  yet  true  ;  as  being  ignored,  and  yet  recognised ; 
as  dying,  and  behold  we  live ;  as  being  chastened  yet  not 
being  slain  ;  as  being  grieved  and  yet  rejoicing ;  as  paupers, 
yet  enriching  many  ;  as  having  nothing,  and  yet  as  having  all 
things  in  full  possession." 

4.  He  may  well  appeal,  as  he  docs  in  the  eleventh  verse  of 
the  sixth  chapter,  to  this  fervid  rush  of  spontaneous  eloquence 
as  a  proof  that  there  is  no  narrowness,  no  insincerity,  no  want 
of  affection,  no  "  crypts  of  shame "  in  his  heart  towards 
them.  Taken  alone,  passages  like  these  might  seem  pain- 
fully personal ;  we  might  have  thought  that  the  man  had 
got  the  better  of  the  ambassador.  But  the  man  and  the 
ambassador  are  one,  and  what  he  wants  from  them  is  not 
a  cold  and  critical  appreciation  of  his  eloquence,  but  the 
sympathy  of  Christians,  if  not  the  affection  of  sons.^  He 
proceeds  therefore  to  tell  them  that  if  he  had  written  to  them 
severely  in  his  former  letter  it  was  only  to  inflict  upon  them 
a  holy  and  a  healing  pain.  Then  he  ends  the  seventh 
chapter  with  the  generous  assurance  that  he  had  good  heart 
about  them  in  all  things. 

As  a  proof  of  this  confidence,  he  appeals  to  their  generosity 

^  The  passage,  vi.  4-vii.  1,  is  a  powerful  appeal  to  them  against  incongru- 
mis  fellowship  with  evil.  It  is  somewhat  parenthetic  in  character,  and  some 
liave  regarded  it  as  a  marginal  note. 

^  ilaurice,  Unity  of  l/cc  Neio  Testamait,  488. 


Sudden  Break.  235 

in  a  matter  dear  to  his  heart — the  offertory  for  the  poor  at    2  corinth. 

Jerusalem.     The    churches   of   Macedonia,   hard   pressed   as 

they  were,  had  contributed  with  generous  self-denial.     Their 

liberal  collection  Avas  already  finished,  though   Achaia  and 

Corinth  had  begun  to  collect  before  them.     He  had  therefore 

sent  Titus  and  two  dear  brethren  to  Corinth,  to  look  after 

and  hasten  this  matter.     He  had  boasted  to  the  Macedonians 

about  the  readiness  of  the  Corinthians,  because  he  had  relied 

on  their  promises.     The  simple  fact  was  (though  St.  Paul 

only  hints  it  in  the  most  delicate  manner)  that  he  had  been 

misled  by  the  glib  professions  of  these  most  unsatisfactory 

Corinthians,  which  there  was  only  too  much  reason  to  fear 

Avould  evaporate  in  talk.     As  to  the  value  and  importance  of 

the  offertory  he  need  surely  say  nothing ;  but,  anxious  that  both 

he  and  they  should  not  be  ashamed  of  a  charity  which  lagged 

far  behind  its  own  promises,  he  reminds  them  that  "  He  who 

soweth    sparingly,    sparingly   shall    also   reap ;  and   he   who 

soweth   bountifully — or,   as   it   is  literally,  with  blessings — 

shall   also    reap   with   blessings."  ^      And   then,    identifying 

himself   with   the   grateful   recipient   who,  he    says,   would 

glorify  God  for  this  proof  of  genuine  religion,  he  ends  the 

ninth  chapter  with  the  words  "  Thanks  be  to  God  for  His 

unspeakable  gift."  ^ 

5.  At  that  point  there  comes  a  complete  break,  an  absolute 
dislocation,  so  to  speak,  in  the  letter.  In  the  last  four 
chapters — the  tenth,  eleventh,  twelfth,  and  thirteenth — 
the  whole  tone  of  the  letter  so  completely  changes  that 
many  have  imagined  the  chapters  to  be  not  only  a  separate 
letter,  but  even  to  be  the  stern  missive  alluded  to  in 
the  eighth  and  following  verses  of  the  seventh  chapter, 
about  the  reception  of  which  he  had  suffered  so  much  cruel 
anxiety.^     It  is  difficult  to  accejDt  this  theory  in  defiance  of 

'  ix.  6  ;  6ir'  ivXofiais,  i.e.  in  a  large,  liberal  spirit. 

2  These  two  chapters  are  memorable  as  being  the  fullest  exposition  of  the 
duty  and  plan  of  almsgiving  in  the  Bible. 

3  The  Autos  Se  670)  TlavKos  of  X.  1,  at  once  marks  the  change  of  tone, 
(comp.  Gal.  v.  2  ;  Eph.  iii.  1).     There  is  a  similar,  but  less  marked  change 


^36  The  Epistles. 

the  evidence  of  the  manuscripts,  and  yet  something  must 
liave  happened  to  make  the  tone  of  these  chapters  so 
different  from  all  that  had  gone  before.  What  happened 
appears  to  liave  been  this.  After  he  had  despatched  Titus, 
some  one  seems  to  have  come  from  Corinth  who  brought  the 
disastrous  intelligence  that  the  party  of  his  oi^poncnts  had 
been  reinforced  and  animated  by  the  arrival  of  an  obtrusive 
emissary  with  introductory  letters  from  Jerusalem,^  whose 
opposition  to  St.  Paul  had  been  more  marked,  and  more 
unscrupulous  than  any  with  which  he  had  yet  had  to  deal.^ 
Incited  by  this  Judaic  sophister,  some  of  the  Corinthians  had 
been  passing  their  censures  on  St.  Paul  still  more  freely  than 
before.  They  had  been  saying — as  this  new  messenger  from 
Corinth,  perhaps  unwisely  and  unnecessarily  told  St.  Paul — 
that  his  presence  was  mean;  that  he  was  untutored  in 
speech  ;  that  he  was  only  bold  in  letters  and  at  a  distance ; 
that  he  walked  according  to  the  flesh — that  is,  that  his 
motives  were  worldly,  not  spiritual ;  that  there  was  in  him  a 
vein  of  folly,  or  even  of  insanity ;  ^  that  he  had  sinister 
designs  in  suggesting  the  offering  for  the  saints  at  Jerusalem ; 
that  his  sending  of  Titus  was  only  a  crafty  cloak  for  his  own- 
avarice  ;  *  that  his  apparent  self-denial  rose  from  the  fact 
that  he  had  no  commendatory  letters  to  show  ;  ^  that  he  had 
never  known  Jesus,  and  had  misrepresented  him  altogether ;  ^ 
that  he  was  not  to  be  regarded  as  a  true  Apostle.  The  fact 
that  such  calumnies  should  have  been  current  among  the 
converts  whom  he  loved  made  him  at  once  wretched  and 
indignant.     Dazzled  by  the  outrageous  pretensions   of  this 

in  Rom.  xiv.  xv.,  and  we  notice  a  similar  plienomenon  in  Dcmosth.  De 
Corona, 

1  2  Cor.  iii.  1  ;  x.  13-17. 

"  iii.  1  ;  V.  11  ;  vii.  2,  3  ;  x.  2,  7,  10,  11,  12,  18  ;  xi.  18-20.  It  is  possiWe 
that  the  attack  on  St.  Paul's  authority  was  fomented  by  some  who  resisted  his 
sentence  on  the  oflendcr. 

3  V.  13,  IG  ;  xii.  6  ;  xi.  IC,  17,  19  ;  comp.  the  blunt  "Thou art  mad,  Paul," 
of  Festus. 

*  xii.  16. 

^  2  Cor.  iii.  1-6  ;  the  taunt  that  ho  had  none  of  those  "commendatory 
letters"  stung  St.  Paul  deeply  (iv.  7-vi.  10). 

^  2  Coi'.  xi.  4,  &\\ov  'irjffovv  .  .  ,  trtpov  ivayyi\iov,  comp.  1  Cor.  ix.  1. 


Hatred  of  St.  Paul.  237 

Pharisee,  benumbed  by  the  torpedo-touch  of  his  avarice,  the  2  corintii. 
Corinthians  were  beginning  to  rejjudiate  their  true  teacher.^ 
The  absolute  necessity  of  refuting  such  attacks  rose  from  the 
importance  of  his  position,  and  is  further  illustrated  by  the 
extreme  vitality  of  the  Ebionite  hatred  of  St.  Paul,  which 
smouldered  on  for  a  century  later,  and  even  in  the  pseudo- 
Clementine  writings  shows  its  treacherous  and  sullen  fires.** 
From  this  point  of  his  letter  onwards  the  tender  effusiveness 
and  earnest  praise  to  which  we  have  hitherto  been  listening 
is  replaced  by  a  tone  of  suppressed  indignation,  in  which 
love,  struggling  with  bitter  irony,  renders  the  language  con- 
strained, like  the  words  of  one  who  with  difficulty  checks 
himself  from  saying  all  that  his  emotion  might  suggest.  One 
characteristic  of  these  chaiDters  is  the  constant  recurrence  of 
the  word  "  boast "  and  "  boasting,"  which  occurs  twenty-nine 
times  in  these  Epistles,  and  only  six  times  in  all  the  rest. 
Now  "  boasting "  was  a  thing  of  which  the  most  distant 
resemblance  was  abhoiTent  to  the  nature  of  the  Apostle. 
But  something  which  his  enemies  might  have  charac- 
terised as  "  boasting  "  was  simply  wrung  from  him  by  the  injus- 
tice of  his  opponents,  and  the  defection  of  his  flock.  To  three 
things  especially  he  could  appeal — to  his  Apostolic  activity, 
to  his  spiritual  gifts,  to  the  Churches  which  he  had  founded.* 

^  See  X.  18;  xi.  8;  (ou  KaT€vdpKi](Ta,  "  I  did  not  benumb  you  like  a  torpedo  " 
one  of  St.  Paul's  "  cilicisms  "  according  to  Jerome)  xi.  20  ;  xii.  13, 14.  Tlieo- 
doret  thought  that  St.  Paul  wrote  x.  12-18,  with  kind  and  intentional  obscurity 
(aa-acpoiis).  St.  Chrysostom  saw  that  many  expressions  in  this  section  are  quo- 
tations from  the  sneers  of  his  enemies  (kut  elpdvuav  <prial  to.  eKeiyuy 
(pdeyyofifvos). 

-  On  these  insinuations  see  x.  i.  10,  12  ;  xi.  6,  16,  17,  19,  kc,  and  note  2, 
at  the  end  of  this  discourse. 

In  the  Pseudo-CIemenline  Homilies  Paul  is  surreptitiously  attacked  under 
the  name  of  Simon  Magus.  In  the  spurious  letter  of  Peter  to  James,  he  is 
called  "  the  lawless  one."  In  the  Recognitions  he  is  evidently  meant  by  "  the 
enemy  "  sent  by  Caiaphas  to  arrest  St.  Peter  at  Antioch,  who  also  threw  St. 
James  down  the  Temple  steps.  A  pestilent  fiction  called  the  "Ascents  of 
James  "  is  believed  to  have  been  the  source  of  the  notable  story  that  he  was  a 
Gentile  who  had  accepted  circumcision  in  hopes  of  marrying  the  High  Priest's 
daughter,  and  who  apostatised  when  his  hopes  were  disappointed.  See  Kpijihan. 
Ifacr.  XXX.  16.  Ps.  Ohem.  Eccogn.  iv.  34.  Horn.  xi.  36.  Baur,  First  Thres 
Centuries,  (E.T.)  i.  89-98  ;  Life  of  St.  Paul,  i.  673-678. 

3  ji.  14  J  iii.  2 ;  xi.  20-23  ;  1  Cor.  ix.  1  ;  xv.  10,  &c. 


238  The  Ejyistles. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  summarise  this  long  and  pas- 
sionate aj)peal,  of  which  the  varying  tones  are  changeable 
as  those  of  an  Aeolian  harp,  but  we  may  be  deeply  thankful 
that  to  it  we  owe  the  one  famous  passage  which  shows  us 
that,  many  and  various  as  are  the  trials  and  afflictions  of  the 
Apostle  narrated  for  us  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  we  have 
not  there  one  tithe  of  the  story  of  the  long  martyrdom  of  the 
life  of  Paul — I  mean  the  passage  in  the  eleventh  chapter 
in  which,  with  a  mere  allusive  glance  at  but  a  part  of  what 
he  had  endured,  he  says  that  he  had  been  "  in  toils  more 
abundantly,  in  stripes  above  measure,  in  prisons  more 
abundantly,  in  deaths  oft ;  of  the  Jews  five  times  received  I 
forty  stripes  save  one ;  thrice  was  I  beaten  with  rods ;  once 
was  I  stoned ;  thrice  I  suffered  shipwreck,  a  night  and  a  day 
have  I  spent  in  the  deep ;  in  journeyings  often,  in  perils  of 
rivers,  in  perils  of  robbers,  in  perils  from  my  own  race,  in 
perils  from  Gentiles,  in  perils  in  the  city,  in  perils  in  the 
wilderness,  in  perils  in  the  sea,  in  perils  among  false  brethren, 
in  toil  and  weariness,  in  sleeplessness  often,  in  hunger  and 
thirst,  in  fastings  often,  in  cold  and  nakedness — besides  the 
things  additional  to  all  these,  the  care  which  daily  besets  me, 
my  anxiety  for  all  the  Churches.  Who  is  weak  and  I  share 
not  his  weakness  ?  Who  is  made  to  stumble,  and  I  do  not 
burn  with  indignation  ?  If  I  must  boast,  I  will  boast  of  this 
my  weakness.  The  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  knoweth  that  I  am  not  lying.  In  Damascus  the 
ethnarch  of  Aretas  the  king  was  guarding  the  city  of 
Damascus,  wishing  to  seize  me,  and  through  a  window,  in  a 
basket,  I  was  let  down  through  the  wall,  and  escaped  his 
hands." 

Surely  this  is  the  most  marvellous  fragment  ever  written 
of  any  biography.  We  may  read  the  lives  of  many  of  tlie 
saints  of  God,  and  such  reading  is  eminently  profitable ;  but 
this  is  a  fragment  beside  which,  not  merely  the  ordinary 
biographies  of  comfortable  Christians,  but  even  the  most 
imperilled   lives   of   the   most   suffering   saints   shrink   into 


Chief  Lessons.  239 

insignificance.  It  is  the  very  heroism  of  unselfishness — 
the  life  of  an  "  Apostle  of  the  Third  Heaven." 

6.  Such  then  is  the  Second  Epistle  of  St.  Paul  to  the 
Corinthians.  It  is  as  rich  as  all  the  Epistles  are  in  all  moral 
and  spiritual  truth.  In  a  very  few  words  we  may  emphasise 
its  main  and  general,  as  apart  from  its  special,  lessons. 

a.  First,  then,  let  this  Epistle  teach  us  to  beware  of 
judging  others,  and  above  all  to  beware  of  judging  and  con- 
demning them  because  of  their  religious  opinions.  Let  us 
do  rather  what  St,  Paul  bids  his  critics  do — test  ourselves, 
prove  our  own  selves.  There  are  few  things  more  saddening 
than  the  self-sufficiency  of  religious  ignorance.  If  nothing 
else  will  teach  us  modesty,  let  us  bear  in  mind  that  the 
so-called  "  religious  world "  has  unanimously  anathematised 
some  of  the  greatest  saints,  and  some  of  the  wisest  thinkers, 
that  ever  pleaded  the  cause  of  God.  Let  us  remember  that 
Paul,  the  greatest  of  the  Apostles,  the  most  glorious  of  the 
saints,  was  all  his  life  long,  and  continued  to  be  for  a  century 
after  his  death,  a  victim  of  the  abuse — sincere  perhaps  in  its 
own  narrow  region,  but  grossly  and  obstinately  ignorant — of  a 
self-styled  orthodoxy.  Let  us  beware  of  thinking  that  God's 
ark  is  always  tottering,  or  that,  if  it  is,  it  needs  our  poor 
and  feeble  hands  to  hold  it  up.  It  can  at  any  rate  never  be  our 
duty  to  slander,  to  rail,  to  blacken,  to  misreioresent,to  lie  for  God. 
How  many  an  Eliphaz  the  Temanite,  Bildad  the  Shuhite,  and 
Zophar  the  Naamathite,  who  holds  himself  to  be  an  uncom- 
promising champion  of  imperilled  truth  will  be  shamed  and 
astonished  hereafter  to  hear  God's  awful  disavowal  and  stern 
reproof,  and  to  find  that,  all  the  while,  they  were  not  worthy 
to  touch  the  very  skirt  of  the  garment  of  those  whom  they 
denounced  as  heretics  and  sinners. 

/3.  This,  then,  for  the  large  class  of  religious  accusers  who, 
in  the  original  Greek  are  called  "  devils  "  (Bca/36Xov^)}  And 
for  the  accused  this.  The  cases  are  rare  in  which  it  is  wise 
for  any  man,  as  it  was  for  St.  Paul,  to  refute  sneers,  or  expose 

1  1  Tim.  iii.  11  ;  2  Tim.  iii.  3  ;  Tit.  ii.  3. 


240  Tlie  Epistles. 

2  CORINTH,  calumnies  against  ourselves.     The  wisest  way  is  simply  to 
entrust  our  cause  to  God. 

•'  What  idle  whispers  here  concern  thee  aught  \ 
Follow  thou  me,  nor  heed  what  others  say  ; 
]5e  like  a  tower  that  never  stoops  its  head, 
Bellow  the  tempests  fiercely  as  they  may.'  ^ 

It  is  said  that  an  eminent  person  of  the  present  day  has 
treasured  up  in  a  book  all  the  fiercest  attacks  which  have 
been  made  upon  him  and,  without  ever  having  answered  one 
word  either  good  or  bad,  keeps  that  book  for  the  amusement 
of  his  friends.  Better  j)erhaps  was  the  observation  of  another, 
"  They  cannot  harm  me  by  what  they  say  of  me.  I  am  too 
near  the  Great  White  Throne  for  that ! "  At  any  rate  we  can 
all  imitate  the  forgiving  spirit  of  good  Archbishop  Tillotson. 
Among  his  papers,  at  his  death,  was  found  a  bundle  of  all 
the  worst  lampoons  which  had  ever  been  written  against  him, 
with  the  pathetic  memorandum,  "  May  God  forgive  them ;  I 
am  sure  I  do."  And  there  is  one  way  at  any  rate  to  rob  all 
criticisms  of  their  sting.  It  is  to  prove  their  falsity  by  the 
innocence  and  simplicity  of  our  lives.  If  we  be  sure  of  God's 
smile,  men  may  say  what  they  will.  Moral  nobleness  is  the 
one  shield  of  adamant  against  the  arrows  of  intolerable 
wrong. 

7.  One  brief  lesson  more.  What  had  Paul  that  we  have 
not  ?  He  was  weak,  he  was  sensitive,  he  was  uncomely,  he 
was  hated,  he  was  poor ;  even  religious  persons  in  churchly 
circles  at  Jerusalem  and  in  Syria  looked  on  him  askance. 
And  yet,  amid  the  world's  storms  of  hate  and  persecution,  he 
carried  the  lighted  torch  of  truth  till  it  had  flashed  from 
Damascus  to  Jerusalem,  from  Jerusalem  to  Rome.  If  this  Jew, 
whom  Gentiles  despised,  whom  Jews  detested,  did  so  much, 
can  we,  the  richly-blessed  sons  of  imperial  England  do  so 
little  ?     Let  us  look  at  our  lives.     Are  we  living  for  self  ?  for 

>    *'  Che  ti  fa  ci6  che  quivi  si  pispiglia  ? 

Yien  dietro  a  me,  e  lascia  dir  le  gcnti ; 
Sta  come  torre,  fermo,  che  non  crolla 
Giammai  la  cima  per  solliar  di  venti." 

Dante,  Purg.  v.  12-15. 


Usefulness.  241 

pleasure  ?  for  gold  ?  for  ambition  ?     What  a  misery,  what  a    2  corinth. 

vanity  of  vanities,  what  a  failure  of  failures  is  such  a  life  ! 

Are  we  of  any  use   at   all   in  the  world,  beyond  our  mere 

mechanical    routine    with    its    variations    of    sleeping   and 

eating  ?      "  O  my  God,  grant  me "   (so    they  are  taught  to 

pray  in  some  monasteries  in  France),  "  grant  me  that  to-day 

I  may  be  of  some  use  to  some  one."     If  God,  for  our  good, 

see  fit  to  deny  us  all  else,  may  He,  as  His  best  gift  of  all, 

grant  us  this,  to  be  of  some  real,  of  some  deep  use  to  our 

fellow  men,  before  we  so  hence  and  are  no  more  seen. 


^42 


The  Epistles. 


NOTE  I. 

GEXEUAL   CHAnACTERISTICS   OF  THE   EPISTLE. 

"  The  wliole  Epistle  reminds  lis  of  an  itinerary,  biit  it  is  interwoven 
with  tlie  noblest  precepts." — Bengel. 

"Non  mihi  videtur  digitis  calamo  et  atramento  scripsisse,  venni) 
ipso  corde,  ipso  affectu  et  denudatis  visceribus." — Casaubon. 

"  This  Epistle  ia  the  most  striking  instance  of  a  new  philosophy  of 
life  poured  forth  not  through  systematic  treatises,  but  through  occasional 
bursts  of  human  feeling." — Stanley. 

"  God  exhibits  death  in  the  living,  life  in  the  dying." — Alford. 

The  Epistle  is  St,  Paul's  Apologia  pro  Vitd  Sua. 

Tlie  importance  of  this  letter  in  the  Antijudaic  controversy  was 
great,  for  unless  St.  Paul  effectually  established  his  Apostolic  authority, 
his  arguments  in  the  Epistles  to  the  Galatians  and  Romans  would  not 
have  counterbalanced  the  leanings  and  prejudices  of  the  Jewish  Chris- 
tians who  claimed  the  sanction  of  St.  James  and  the  Church  of 
Jerusalem. 

The  two  Epistles  to  the  Corinthians  have  a  special  value. 

The  first  gives  us  our  chief  insight  into  the  character  and  con- 
dition of  the  early  Churches  ;  the  contests  by  which  they  were  agitated  ; 
the  practices  which  were  struggling  for  existence  in  their  worship  ;  the 
manifold  thoughts  and  speculations  which  were  seething  in  the  midst  of 
them.  We  see  Christianity,  under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
endeavouring  "  to  grasp  and  to  set  its  seal  upon  life  in  all  its  variety." 

The  second  gives  us  our  chief  insight  into  the  life  and  character  of  the 
great  Apostle.  Here,  in  self-defence,  he  opens  the  most  secret  recesses 
of  his  heart.  We  see  his  keen  logic,  his  nervous  excitement,  his  deep 
indignation,  his  constant  self-denial,  his  strong  sense  of  independence, 
bis  immeasurable  love.  We  see  his  sympathy  with  the  strong  combined 
with  his  tenderness  for  the  weak  ;  his  fire  and  passion  ;  his  practical 
good  sense  and  tact ;  his  religious  fervour  ;  his  immense  devotion  to  the 
cause  of  Christ  in  which  lie  was  ready  to  spend  and  to  be  spent.^ 

1  "Nirgpnds  finden  wir  die  Subjcetivitat  des  Apostcls  in  so  hohem  Grade 
nnd  so  verschicdener  Weisc  angeregt  wie  in  diesem  Briefe,  niigendsdie  redncr- 
ische  SeictJTTjs  so  hiiufig  hervortrotend  (iv.  8-11  ;  vi.  4-10  ;  vii.  11  ;  xi.  22-29)." 
Inuiier,  Thcohglc  des  N.  T.  p.  240.     Hausrath  Kcvt.  Zcitg.  ii.  710. 


Outline.  243 

Tlie  First  Epistle  deuls  with  the  elements  of  peril  which  spnmg  up   2  corinth 
for  the  most  part  in  the  Hellenic  section  of  the  Church— inflated  culture, 
spurious  liberty,  &c.     The  second  is  aimed  almost  exclusively  at  Judaic 
antagonists. 


NOTE  II. 

OUTLINE   OF   THE   EPISTLK. 

It  falls  into  three  main  divisions. 
i.-vii.  Personal  and  ministerial, 
viii.-ix.  About  the  collection  for  the  poor, 
x.-xiii.  Direct  personal  self-defence. 

1.  Greeting  (i.  1-2). 

2.  Thanksgiving  (i.  3-7). 

3.  Hortatory  and  retrospective.  An  endeavour  to  come  to  a  better 
understanding  with  the  Church  of  Corinth.  An  undercurrent  of 
apology  (i.  8-vii.)  darkened  by  suppressed  indignation.  Concerning 
the  contribution  for  the  poor  saints  (viii.,  ix.)  ;  suggestions  coloured  by 
sorrowful  emotion. 

4.  Indignant  defence  of  his  Apostolic  position  (x.-xiii). 

5.  Farewell  greetings.  "  Farewell ;  be  perfect,  be  comforted  ;  be 
united  ;  be  at  peace ." 

6.  Autograph  blessing.  As  though  to  make  up  for  the  severity  of  the 
letter  this  is  the  fullest  form  of  the  Apostolic  blessing  "  thence  adopted 
by  the  Church  in  all  ages  as  the  final  blessing  of  her  services." 

This  is  the  least  systematic,  as  the  first  is  the  most  systematic,  of  St 
Paul's  writings. 

The  thread  of  the  Epistle  is  historical,  but  it  is  interwoven  with 
digressions.  The  broken  threads  of  narrative  will  be  found  in  i.  8,  15  ; 
ii.  1  (Ephesus)  ;  12  (Troas)  ;  13  (arrival  in  Macedonia) ;  vii.  5  (Macedonia) 
viii.  1  ix.  2  {id.) ;  xiii.  1  (intention  to  visit  Corinth). 


NOTE  III. 

EFFECTS   PRODUCED    BY   THE   EPIS'l  LE. 

In  the  New  Testament  we  hear  no  more  about  the  state  of  tlie  Church  Uzt'-  u^  ^  j*^ 
of  Corinth  ;  but  we  have  two  glimpses  of  it  within  the  century  which   H^^-"-^    P^^ 
ensued.    One  is  furnished  by  the  letter  of  Clement   of  Rome   to  the  .  ^  t  ■ 
Corinthians  (circ.  a.d.  95).     We  see  from  this  letter  that  the  Church  of 

E   2 


24.4  The  Epistles. 

Corinth  was  still  in  nmcli  the  same  condition  as  wht-n  St.  Paul  wrote — 
full  of  tendencies  to  fauiion,  insubordination,  and  doubt.  In  a.d.  135, 
the  church  was  visited  by  Hogesippus,  who  stayed  there  some  days  on 
his  way  to  Rome.  The  account  which  (from  a  Jewish-Christian  point  of 
view)  he  gives  is  more  favourable.  The  Corinthian  Cliristians  were 
under  an  excellent  and  active  bishop  named  Primus  ;  women  like  Phoebe 
and  Priscilla  had  found  a  successor  in  ClirysoplKjra  ;  and  the  Ciiurch  was 
well  spoken  of  for  liberal  almsgiving. 


NOTE  IV. 

ATTACKS   UPON   ST.    PAUL,   AND   HIS    REPLIES. 

This  Epistle  is  so  largely  motived  by  the  determined  assault  upon  St. 
Paul's  authority  that  it  is  worth  while  to  track  out  the  indications  of 
what  calumny  had  to  say  of  him. 

I.  The  calumnies  were  aimed,  (i.)  at  his  person,  (ii.)  his  teaching,  (iii.) 
Lis  character. 

i.  As  to  his  PERSON. 

n.   He  is  "abject"  {raneivi's,  x.  1.) 

fi.  Weak  {dadev^i,  x.  10.) 

y.  A  contemptible  speaker  (6  Xoyos  i^ovdevrffifvos,  x.  10),  only  big 

and  strong  in  his  letters  when  he  is  at  a  safe  distance  {tdiiiujs 

fVXcya),  xi.  6.) 

ii.  As  to  his  teaching. 

a.  He  arrogates  too  much  to  himself  (vTrepeKTflvei,  x.  12  18). 

)3.  He  is  no  true  Apostle,  and  that  is  why  he  docs  not  dare  to  claim 

the  privilege  of  maintenance  as  an  Apostle  (1  Cor.  ix.  1-23  ; 

2  Cor.  xi.  7-12  ;  xii.  13). 
y.  He  has  nothing  to  boast  of  like  the  true  Apostles,  the  "out  and 

out   Apostles"    {oi   xmepkiav  aVo<rroXot,    xi.    5)   and   is   in   fact 

"nothing"  (xi.  16  33  ;  xii.  11). 
8.  His  Gospel  is  a  hidden,  crafty,  mysterious  one  (iv.  3)  ;  a  charge 

founded  on  1  Cor.  ii.  7. 
f.  The  Jesus  and  the  Gospd  he  prcaclies  is  not  the  true  Jesus  or  the 

right  Gospel  (xi.  4). 
f.  He  falsifies  the  word  of  God  (ii.  17,  iv.  2). 
ij.  lie  preaches  himself  and  not  Christ  (iv.  5). 


Self-defence.  245 

iii.  As  to  his  character, 

a.  He  cannot  produce  any  commendatory  letters.'^ 

/3.  He  is  fickle  and  changeable  ;  altering  his  announced  plan  ;  first 

he  says  "Yes  "  and  then  "  No  "  (i.  15-17), 
y.  The  reason  is  tliat  he  is  afraid  of  having  his  pretensions  put  to 

the  test ;  He  dare  not  come  (xiii.  3  ;  x.  9-11  ;  xii.  20,  21  ;  1  Cor, 

iv.  18-21). 
S.  He  boasts  of  his  disinterestedness,   but  this   collection   about 

which  he  is  so  eager  is  very  suspicious.      He  sends  Titus  to  get 

the  money  out  of  you,  and  "suck  you  dry  "  (2  Cor.  xii.  16-19  ; 

viii.  20-23). 
f.  The  only  excuse  for  him  is  that  his  mind  is  liardly  sound  (v.  13  ; 

xi.  16-19  ;  xii.  6),  and  hence  he  has  only  visions  to  appeal  to, 

never  having  really  known  Christ  (xii.  2;  v.  16).^ 

II.  To  all  this  the  Apostle's  answer  is  indignant  and  complete  :  indeed 
to  some  of  the  charges  he  hardly  deigns  to  give  any  further  answer  than 
a  passing  word. 

i.  As  to  his  person  it  matters  little  or  nothing. 

«,  j3.  God  is  no  respecter  of  persons  (Gal.  ii.  6).  He  comforts  the 
"abject"  (vii.  6).  He  strengthens  the  weak  (xiii.  4).  They 
ought  not  to  look  at  men's  faces  (x.  7),  but  at  their  hearts 
(v.  12). 

y.  Whatever  he  was  in  speech,  he  was  not  contemptible  in  know- 
ledge ;  and  he  would  answer  in  person  the  sneers  that  he  waa 
afraid  to  come  (x.  11  ;  xi.  6  ;   i.  23  ;  xiii,  1-3,  10). 

ii.  As  to  his  teaching, 

a.  It  is  his  opponents  who  are  obtrusive  and  arrogant,  not  himself 
(x.  12-18), 

3.  He  is  an  Apostle  of  Christ's  own  calling  (x,  18)  ;  he  has  only 
foregone  his  riglit  to  maintenance  at  their  hands  that  he  might 
not  "benumb  "  or  burden  them  (xi,  7-12  ;  xii,  14-16). 

y.  If  he  vmst  boast  he  has  done  more  than  the  "out  and  out" 
Apostles  of  whose  countenance  and  letters  the  Judaic  missionary 
boasted  (xi,  23-33).  He  has  had  divine  visions  (xii.  1-10).  He 
has  shown  all  the  signs  of  an  Apostle  (xii,  11-13).  The 
Apostles  possess  no  single  privilege  of  which  he  is  destitute  (xi, 

^  This  was  remembered  against  St,  Paul  by  the  Ebionites  long  afterwards. 
See  Ps.  Clem.  Recogn.  iv.  3,  5,  wliere  Peter  is  made  to  give  directions  that 
every  one  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  false  Apostle  who  cannot  produce  a 
"  testimonial"  from  James  the  Bishop  of  Jerusalem, 

2  P'ven  in  the  Clementines  we  find  a  .surreptitious  sneer  at  St,  Paul's  visions 
as  being  mere  subjective  fancy,  or  deceit  of  tlie  devil.  Ps,  Clement //o??i.  xvii. 
13,  scq.  TTws  Se  (Tol  Kol  TTiffTfucronev  aitro  ;  .  .  .  ttois  5e'  ffoi  koI  &<p67},  6ir6Te  avr^ 
TO,  ivavTia  rri  SiSaaKaKia  ^poveis  ' 


246  The  Epistles 

1  coKiNTii.  22),  and  if  he  be  "nothing"  he  is  at  any  rate  not  inferior  to 

tlieni  (xii.  11). 
h.  His  Gospel  is  absolutely  open,  honest,  and  manifest  except  to  the 

\viirully  blind  (iv.  1-G). 
^,  ;;,  6.  He  preaches  the  true,  and  the  only  Christ,  not  himself  (ii. 

17,  18;  iv.  1-6,  13-18;  xi.  1-4). 

iii.  As  to  his  character, 

a.  He  stands  above  the  need  for  "commendatory  letters."  They 
were  themselves  his  commendatory  letter  (x.  18  ;  iii.  1-6). 

/3.  H  he  be  "  fickle,"  at  any  rate  his  preaching  is  absolutely  fixed 
(i.  18)  ;  but  in  point  of  fact  his  change  of  plan  was  due  to 
deliberate  kindness  towards  them  that  he  miglit  not  visit  them 
in  anger  (i.  15-24  ;  xiii,  1,  &c.). 

y.  They  shall  judge  whether  he  is  afraid  or  no  (xiii.  1-10). 

b.  He  indignantly  disclaims  the  charge  of  interested  conduct  and 

appeals  to  plain  facts  (xii.  14-18  ;  xi,  7-10  ;  vii.  2-4). 
*.  To  the  insinuation  that  he  is  not  in  his  right  mind  he  only 
opposes  a    few   allusions   of  tender    irony    (v.    13  ;  xii.    6  ;     xi.    16- 
19,  Sic). 


EPISTLE    TO    THE     GALATIANS. 

WRITTEN    AT    CORINTH   ABOUT    A.D.    58 

AiSaKTiKov,  ave^iicaKOV. — 2  Tim.  ii.  2t. 

"For   chanUh    "graven"    (Ex,    xxxii.    16)    read    cheruth    "freedom." — 
11.  Meik. 

"  Principalis  adversus   Judaismnm    Epi.stola." — Marcion  [ap.    Tert.  adv. 
Marc.  V.  2). 

"  He  is  a  freeman  whom  the  truth  makes  free, 
And  all  are  slaves  beside." 


INTRODUCTORY. 

It  may  be  regarded  as  certain  that  by  "  Galatians"  St.  Paul  galati.\ns. 
meant  the  inliabitants  of  Galatia  proper  (the  Trocmi, 
Tectosages,  Tolistoboii,  with  their  three  capital  towns  of 
Tavium,  Pessinus,  and  Ancyra).  To  speak  of  the  Neo- 
Galatians  of  the  Roman  province,  which  included  Iconium, 
Lystra,  and  Derbe  as  Galatians,  would  be  like  writing  a  letter 
"  to  the  Prussians,"  which  was  specially  intended  for  the 
people  of  Schleswig-Holstein,  or  Alsace  and  Lorraine.  St. 
Luke  never  dreams  of  calling  Pisidia  and  Lycaonia  by  the 
name  Galatia  (Acts  xiv.  6,  11).^ 

*  See  Hi]genfeld,  Eirdeit.  p.  251,  Hansrath,  Zcitg.  ii. 


24,8  The  Epistles. 

St.  Paul  had  founded  these  Churches  A.D.  52,  in  the  visit 
of  svhich  we  learn  the  particulars  from  Acts  xvi.  6,  Gala- 
tians  iv.  13 — 16.  Wlieu  he  paid  them  a  second  visit,  in 
A.D.  55,  he  saw  some  ground  for  misgiving,  and  seems  to 
have  been  much  more  coldly  received  (Acts  xviii.  22,  23, 
iv.  16—20). 

The  date  of  the  EjDistle  to  the  Galatians  is,  within  narrow 
limits,  fixed  both  by  external  and  internal  evidence. 

It  was  evidently  written  within  a  short  time  of  the  Second 
Epistle  to  the  Corinthians ;  for — especially  in  the  self- 
vindication  of  chapters  i.,  ii. — it  greatly  resembles  that  Epistle 
in  tone,  feeling,  style,  and  mode  of  argument,  as  well  as  in 
many  casual  expressions. 

It  must  have  slightly  preceded  the  Ejiistle  to  the  Romans, 
since  it  is  preoccujiied  with  the  same  order  of  thought.  It  is 
the  rough  sketch  of  which  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  is  the 
finished  picture.  It  is  an  impassioned,  controversial,  personal 
statement  of  the  relation  of  the  Gentiles  to  the  Jews, 
especially  as  regards  circumcision.  The  Epistle  to  the 
Romans  is  a  full,  systematic,  general  treatise  on  the  relation 
of  the  Gospel  to  the  Law  (see  Bishop  Lightfoot,  Galatians, 
pp.  44 — 46).  The  difference  between  the  two  is  that 
Galatians  was  written  in  deep  emotion,  Romans  with  calm, 
mature  reflection. 

At  no  long  period  after  St.  Paul's  second  visit  ("  so  soon  ") 
the  Galatians  had  been  "  fascinated,"  "  bewitched,"  by  the 
Jewish  emissaries,  partly  from  their  natural  levity  of  character 
and  fondness  for  novelty,  and  partly  because  the  Judaising 
ritual  bore  some  resemblance  to  their  own  Asiatic  and  semi- 
Phrygian  cults.  The  elaborate  and  orgiastic  character  of 
these  local  superstitions  made  the  Gauls  feel  discontented  with 
the  simjsle  sjjirituality  of  Christian  worship. 

"  It  w%as  necessary,"  says  Baur,  "  that  the  particularisms  of 
Judaism,  Avhich  exposed  to  the  heathen  world  so  repellent  a 
demeanour,  and  such  offensive  claims  should  be  uprooted,  and 
the    baselessness    of    its    prejudices    and    pretensions    fully 


Jewish  Tactics.  249 

exposed  to  the  world's  eye.  This  was  the  service  which  the 
Apostle  achieved  for  mankind  by  his  magnificent  dialectic,"  ^ 

The  tactics  of  the  Jewish  emissaries  were  very  simple. 
They  began  with  the  Psalms  and  pure  monotheism,  and  so, 
when  they  had  made  their  "  proselytes  of  the  gate,"  they  put 
forward  so  strongly  the  desirability  of  further  advances,  and 
the  peril  of  not  accepting  legal  observances  that  they  gradually 
got  to  the  knife  of  circumcision  and  the  whole  yoke  of  the 
Levitic  Law,^  and  so  made  them  "  proselytes  of  righteous- 
ness," and  in  some  cases,  as  our  Lord  said,  twofold  more  the 
children  of  Gehenna  than  themselves. 

It  was  thus  that  they  had  treated  the  royal  family  of 
Adiabene,  some  of  whom  lie  buried  in  "  the  tombs  of  the 
kings  "  near  Jerusalem.  Queen  Helena,  in  performance  of  a 
Nazarite  vow  (twice  renewed),  spent  twenty-one  years  in 
Jerusalem,  and  during  the  famine  of  Clavidius's  reign  fed  its 
paupers  with  dried  figs  imported  from  Cyprus.  The  family 
had  been  converted  to  Judaism  b}'-  a  liberal-minded  Jewish 
merchant  named  Abennerig,  who  wisely  told  them  that 
circumcision  was  not  essential.  Then  came  a  bigoted 
Pharisee,  P.  Eliezer  of  Galilee,  who  so  worked  on  the  fears  of 
the  princes  Izates  and  Monobazus  that  they  both  had  them- 
selves secretly  circumcised.  Josephus  tells  us  many  particulars 
about  this  interesting  family.^ 

Josephus  had  the  greatest  difficulty  in  preventing  the 
circumcision  by  force  of  "  two  great  men  "  who  came  to  him 
from  Trachonitis ;  and  they  had  to  save  their  lives  from  the 
fury  of  the  Jewish  bigots  by  a  hasty  flight  {Vit.  Jos.  23,  31). 

The  Rabbis  say  that  "  Rabbi "  (Juda  Hakkodesh,  Avho 
edited  the  Mishna)  induced  the  Emperor  Antoninus  to  be 
circumcised.  .  The  story  is  none  the  less  significant  though  it 
is  a  fable,  and  it  is  uncertain  Avhich  emperor  is  meant  by 
Antoninus.'* 

'  First  Three  Ccnfnrics,  i.  73. 

=  8po  Hausratli,  Kfciit.  Zeit-f.  ii.  p.  263. 

3  See  Jos.  Antt.  xx.  2,  §  2,B.  J.  v.  6,  §  1,  vi.  6,  §  3. 

*  Jcr.  Mcgillah.  c.  1,     Avoda  Zara.  f.  10,  2. 


GALATIANS 


250  The  Epistles. 

It  was  an  advantage  to  St.  Paul  tliat  he  was  able  in  this 
Epistle  to  concentrate  the  force  of  his  argument  on  the  single 
point  of  circumcision.     For 

a.  The  Jewish  teachers  put  it  in  the  forefront.  They  said 
that  "  but  for  circumcision  heaven  and  earth  could  not  exist " 
(Nedarim,  f.  32,  1) ;  that  it  was  equivalent  to  all  the  com- 
mandments of  the  Law  (id.) ;  and  that  angels  so  detest  an 
uncircumcised  person  that,  before  Abraham  was  circumcised, 
God  spoke  to  him  in  Aramaic,  which  the  angels  do  not 
understand.     (YalJcut  Chadash,  f.  117,  8.) 

yS.  If  therefore  St.  Paul  could  show  that  for  Gentiles 
circumcision  was  worse  than  useless,  it  became  unnecessary 
to  enter  on  further  questions.  With  circumcision  fell  the 
whole  Levitic  law. 

In  vehemence,  effectiveness,  and  deiJth  of  conviction  this 
Epistle  is  only  paralleled  by  Luther's  De  Captivitate  Bcihy- 
lonica,  in  which  he  realised  his  saying  that  his  battle  with 
the  Papacy  required  "a  tongue  of  which  every  word  is  a 
thunderbolt." 

St.  Paul  did  his  work  so  completely  that  thenceforth  in  the 
Christian  Church  the  question  as  to  the  need  of  circumcision 
for  Gentiles  was  at  an  end.  In  the  Epistle  of  Barnabas 
circumcision  is  even  treated  with  contempt,  and  its  institution 
attributed  to  the  deception  of  an  evil  angel  {Ep.  Barnab. 
c.  ix.).  In  the  Ignatian  letter  to  Philadelphia  we  read  of 
"  the  false  Jew  of  the  earthly  circumcision  "  {Ep.  ad.  Philad. 
C).  Even  in  the  Ebionite  pseudo-Clementine  homilies  the} 
who  desire  to  be  de-Hellenised  (a(f)€Wr]via6f]vai,  "  to  be 
un-Greeked  ")  must  be  so  not  by  circumcision,  but  by  baptism 
and  the  new  birth.  Of  circumcision  not  a  word  is  said,  even 
by  these  extreme  Judaists. 

The  leading  thoughts  of  the  Epistle  are  the  Freedom  of 
the  Gospel ;  Justification  by  Faith,  not  by  works  of  the  Law ; 
circumcision  nothing  and  uncircumcision  nothing,  but  a  new 
creation  in  Christ. 


Epistle  to  the  Galatians.  251 


EPISTLE  TO  THE  GALATIANS. 

"  Stand  fast  therefore  in  the  liberty  wherewith  Christ  has  made  us  free,  and 
he  not  entangled  again  with  the  yoke  of  bondage." — Gal.  v.  1. 

1.  In  tlie  history  of  mankind  ages  of  torpor  and  oppression  galatians. 
are  often  ended  by  a  sudden  crisis  of  deliverance,  due  to  the 
bright  genius  and  burning  courage  of  one  man.  The  man  whom 
God  appoints  to  this  high  task  has,  in  most  instances,  to  face 
the  fury  of  a  workl  suddenly  awaked  from  the  deep  slumber 
of  decided  opinions  ;  and  by  that  fury  he  is  always  persecuted, 
and  sometimes  slain.  It  is  astonishing  to  note  how  nations 
and  Churches  can  be  smitten  for  centuries  with  a  paralysis  of 
mental  inactivity ;  how  they  can  suffer  custom  to  lie  upon 
them  with  a  weight  "  heavy  as  frost,  and  deep  almost  as  life  " 
- — how  they  can  allow  tliemselves  to  be  crushed  under  false 
systems  of  belief  and  morals,  without  so  much  as  once 
inquiring  on  what  those  systems  rest.  We  are  sometimes 
driven  to  think  that  men  in  general  will  endure  anything 
rather  than  the  honest  pain  of  facing  great  questions  for 
themselves.  Of  how  many  an  age  has  it  been  a  true  de- 
scription that  "  the  prophets  prophesy  falsely,  and  the  priests 
bear  rule  by  their  means,  and  my  peojDle  love  to  have  it  so  ! " 
Is  not  Israel  in  this  respect  a  type  of  all  mankind  ?  Released 
from  the  sensual  serfdom  of  Egypt,  and  led — a  free  people — into 
the  eager  air  of  the  wilderness,  did  they  not  murmur,  and 
rebel,  for  their  lost  fleshpots,  and  leeks,  and  onions,  and 
full-fed  ease  ?  Even  so  do  men  love  the  indolent  Egypt  of 
intellectual  servitude. 

"  They  bawl  for  freedom  in  their  senseless  mood, 
But  still  revolt  when  truth  would  set  them  free  ; 
License  they  mean  when  they  cry  liberty, 
For  who  loves  that,  must  first  be  wise  and  good." 

The  Bible,  rightly  used,  is  eminently  the  book  of  freedom. 
All  the  noblest  and  most  inspiring  parts  of  its  history  tell  of 


252  The  E/nstles. 

tlie  struggles  of  a  free  people  against  colossal  tyrannies.  All 
the  most  glorious  pages  of  its  prophets  are  like  the  blasts  of 
trumpets  blown  to  awaken  men  from  immoral  acquiescence 
and  apathetic  sloth.  Its  spiritual  law  is  a  perfect  law  of 
liberty.  The  very  spirit  of  its  gospel  is  "  Ye  shall  know  the 
truth,  and  the  truth  shall  make  you  free."  And  yet,  so 
innate  and  perverse  is  the  propensity  of  mankind  to  prefer 
their  familiar  fetters  to  the  perils  and  the  pains — the 
ennobling  perils,  the  glorious  pains — of  freedom,  that  they 
have  managed  to  degrade  the  very  Scripture  into  an  instru- 
ment of  oppression,  and  have  manufactured  out  of  its  mis- 
interpretation the  subtlest  engines  of  tyranny.  But  since 
this  is  so,  since  phrases  of  Scripture  have  been  made  so 
dangerous  to  mankind,  since  oftentimes  the  dead  letter  of  it 
has  been  an  instrument  of  murder  in  the  hands  of  ignorance, 
a  firebrand  of  bigotry  in  the  grasp  of  folly,  an  arrow  of  death  in 
the  quiver  of  fanaticism — they  for  whom  God  has  "  illuminated 
the  eyes  of  the  understanding,"  ^  they  who  know  that  the 
very  Scriptures  of  God,  as  St.  Peter  says,  may  be  MTcsted,  by 
the  unlearned  and  the  unstable,  to  their  own  perdition  ^ — are 
more  than  ever  bound  to  use  the  Bible  on  behalf  of  that 
liberty — that  civil,  that  social,  that  intellectual,  that  moral, 
that  spiritual  liberty — of  which  it  was  meant  by  God  to  be 
the  shield  and  sword.  The  letter  of  the  Bible,  if  it  have 
been  used  to  wound,  may  also,  thank  God — like  the  fabled 
spear  of  Achilles — be  used  to  heal.  By  the  help  of  the 
Bible,  in  time,  we  freed  the  slave,  though  vested  interest 
quoted  Moses  and  St.  Paul  to  prove  the  sacredncss  of  slavery. 
By  the  help  of  the  Bible,  in  time,  we  shall  make  England 
temperate,  though  men  quote  the  Epistle  to  Timothy  to 
defend  the  system  which  maddens  men  and  women  with 
ardent  spirits  into  desperate  crimes.  By  the  help  of  the 
Bible,  in  time,  the  English  nation  shook  to  the  dust  a  system 
of  despotism,  though  priests  quoted  the  Apostles  to  prove  the 

'  ■wfcpxTifffifi'ovs  Toi/s  ofOaKfiovs  TTjs  htavoias. — l'|ih.  i.  13. 
2  2  let.  iii.  ir>,  1(5. 


Liberty.  253 

duty  of  passive  obedience.  A  thousand  years  of  papal  galatians 
usurpation  had  been  built,  like  a  pyramid  upon  its  apex,  on 
the  inch  of  argument  seized  by  Romanism  in  the  text  "  Thou 
art  Peter,  and  on  this  rock  will  I  build  my  church."  But,  in 
time,  by  reading  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  a  light  burst 
u23on  the  soul  of  Luther,  and  he  nailed  his  theses  to  the 
cathedral  door  of  Wittenberg,  and  flung  the  papal  bull  into 
the  flames.  Every  nail  he  used  that  day  was  a  nail  in  the 
coffin  of  tyi-annous  priestcraft ;  every  flame  he  kindled  that 
day  was  a  flame  to  consume  the  chaff  of  false  inferences  from 
false  assumptions.  What  he  burnt  was  the  right  of  designing 
tyrannies  to  build  themselves  upon  isolated  texts. 

I  have  said  that  it  was  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians  which 
thus  became  to  Luther  a  weapon  for  the  emancipation  of  man- 
kind. He  said  himself,  in  his  own  rough  way,  "  The  Epistle 
to  the  Galatians  is  my  epistle.  I  have  betrothed  myself  to  it. 
It  is  my  wife."  Its  very  characteristic  is  that  it  is  the  Epistle 
of  Freedom.  In  writing  it,  Paul  stood  as  it  were  alone  upon 
a  mountain-top,  and  shouted  "  Liberty."  Eleven  times  in 
these  short  chapters,,  and  in  this  connection  more  often  than 
in  all  the  other  Epistles  put  together,  the  thought  occurs, 
"  Stand  fast  in  the  liberty  wherewith  Christ  hath  made  us 
free,"  and  "  Brethren,  ye  have  been  called  unto  liberty." 
"  Jerusalem  which  is  above  is  free,  which  is  the  mother  of  us 
all."  ^  Those  words  are  the  summary  and  key-note  of  the 
Epistle.  "  Free  from  what  ? "  you  will  ask.  Free,  I  answer, 
from  all  things  which  enslave  the  body  and  the  soul;  free 
from  morbid  scrupulosities  of  conscience ;  free  from  morbid 
anxieties  of  service  ;  free  from  the  manifold  rules  of  "  Touch 
not,  taste  not,  handle  not ; "  free  from  the  encroachments  of 
a  spiritual  usui-pation ;  free  from  the  strife  of  contending 
sects,  which  make  religion  consist  of  shibboleths  or  badges  ; 
free  from  timorous  ritualisms  and  small  ceremonial  punctu- 
alities ;  free  from  anything  and  everything  but  the  law  of  faith, 
the  law  of  grace,  the  roj'^al  law  of  liberty,  the  law  of  those 

1  Gal.  ii.  4 ;  iii.  28 ;  iv.  22,  23,  26,  30,  31 ;  v.  1,  13, 


2o4.  The  E^nstles. 

Avlio  are  not  slaves,  but  sons ;  the  law  which  is  fulfilled  in  one 
word  even  in  this,  "  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself." 

But  this  freedom  is  "  in  Christ."  Forty-three  times  in  this 
Epistle  does  the  name  Christ  occur,  and  thirty-nine  of  these 
times  it  is  Christ,  not  "the  Christ;"  Christ  the  personal  name, 
not  Christ  the  descriptive  appellative;  Christ  the  Saviour, 
the  man  Christ  Jesus. 

2.  What  St.  Paul  was  princi2:)ally  thinking  of — the  freedom 
in  which,  to  him,  all  other  freedom  was  involved — was  freedom 
from  Judaism ;  freedom  from  the  petty  and  intolerable  yoke  of 
circumcision,  washings,  fasts,  feasts,  sacrifices,  new  moons, 
sabbaths,  incessant  assemblies,  sacerdotal  micrology,  and  all 
wearing  and  fretting  externalism ;  freedom  from  all,  save 
what  was  of  eternal,  moral  significance  in  the  Mosaic  law. 
Perhaps  you  may  think  that  it  was  indeed  necessary  to  deliver 
Christianity  from  this  yoke,  but  that  now  the  work  is  done ; 
so  that  this  Epistle  has  no  longer  any  concern  for  us.  It  is 
indeed  the  principal  letter  against  Judaism  ;  but  Judaism, 
you  will  say,  is  dead.  It  was  a  splendid  service  to  cut 
Christianity  loose  from  the  decaying  corpse  of  obsolete 
traditions  ;  but  it  was  a  service  which  has  for  us  nothing 
more  than  an  historical  interest.  Alas  !  such  a  notion  is 
greatly  mistaken.  Judaism  was  something  more  than  a  dead 
system  ;  it  is  a  living  tendency.  There  is  a  Judaism  in  the 
secret  heart  of  every  one  of  us,  of  which  we  must  be  aware  ; 
and  the  more  you  study  this  Epistle,  the  more  you  will 
recognise  that  the  significance  of  its  teaching  is  as  great  for 
the  nineteenth  century  as  for  the  first.  The  early  Apostles 
were  Jews,  all  of  them  circumcised,  all  of  them  attending 
the  Temple  three  times  a  day,  all  of  them  offering  sacrifices, 
and  keeping  that  Levitical  law  which  was  indeed  necessary, 
at  first  for  a  stiffnccked  nation  of  sensual  slaves,  who  were 
hankering  in  their  hearts  for  the  specious  renewal  of 
Egyptian  idolatries  under  Jewish  forms,  but  which,  now  that 
Christ  had  died,  was  for  the  Jews  half  meaningless,  and  for 
the  Gentiles  wholly  pernicious.     Christ,  in  accordance  with 


Innate  Judaism.  255 

the  divine  economy  had  not,  in  so  many  words,  abrogated  the  galatiaks. 
Mosaic  law ;  but  He  had  taught  spiritual  truths  which  in- 
volved the  necessity  for  its  abrogation.  He  had  left  the 
consummation  of  His  teaching  to  that  light  of  God  which 
"  shines  on  patiently  and  impartially,  showing  all  things  in 
the  slow  history  of  their  ripening."  Now  the  Law  was,  as 
St.  Peter  said,  a  yoke,  which  neither  the  Jews  nor  their 
fathers  were  able  to  bear ;  but  the  Law  alone  was  as  nothing 
to  the  mass  of  infinitesimal  minutiae,  at  once  preposterous 
and  puerile,  which  Scribes,  and  Rabbis,  and  Pharisees, 
had  built  upon  it.  By  arguments  and  inferences,  and  in- 
ferences from  those  arguments,  and  arguments  from  these 
inferences,  they,  by  the  spirit  which  has  been  the  besetting  sin 
of  theologian  and  commentator  in  all  ages,  had  darkened  God's 
whole  heavens  with  the  smoke  of  an  attenuated  exegesis  which 
curled  "  out  of  the  narrow  aperture  of  single  texts."  Religion 
is  a  broad,  deep,  free,  bright,  loving,  universal  spirit :  broad 
as  the  path  of  God's  commandments,  deep  as  the  ocean  of 
His  love,  free  as  His  common  air,  bright  as  His  impartial 
sunshine,  loving  as  His  all-embracing  mercy,  universal  as  His 
omnipotent  rule.  For  the  centre,  and  head,  and  heart  of 
Christianity  is  Christ,  and  there  was  nothing -narrow,  nothing 
scholastic,  nothing  jealously  exclusive,  in  Christ.  But,  in 
the  craft  and  subtlety  of  the  devil  and  man,  Religion  has 
ever  tended  to  wither  away  into  Judaism,  into  Rabbinism, 
into  scholasticism,  into  ecclesiasticism,  into  Romanism,  into 
sectarianism,  into  dead  schemes  of  dogmatic  belief,  into  dead 
routines  of  elaborate  ceremonial,  into  dead  exclusiveness  of 
party  narrowness,  into  dead  theories  of  scriptural  in- 
spiration, into  dead  formulae  of  Church  parties,  into  the 
dead  performance  of  dead  works,  or  the  dead  assent  to  dead 
phrases.  Now  it  was  just  this  fatal  tendency  of  human 
supineness  against  which  Paul  had  to  contend.  Judaic 
Christians — apparently  one    man    in  particular^ — had  come 

'  V.  10  ;  St.  Paul  here  speaks  of  his  opponents  as  ol  a-irh  riis  'louSai'as,  ol  en 
Tuv  ^apiaaiuv.     The  synagogue  had,  as  it  were,  been  honourably  buried  in  the 


256  The  Epistles. 

GALATiANs,  fiom  Jerusalem  to  his  fickle  and  ignorant  Galatians  with  the 
hard,  ready-made  Biblical  dogma  "  Unless  ye  be  circumcised, 
and  keep  the  whole  law,  ye  cannot  be  saved."  ^  They 
wanted  to  substitute  external  badges  for  inward  faith  ;  legal 
bondage  for  Christian  freedom ;  observance  of  practices  for 
holiness  of  heart.  They  were  striving  to  put  the  new,  rich, 
fermenting  wine  of  Christianity  into  their  old  and  bursten 
wine-skins  of  Levitism.  In  their  hands,  Christianity  would 
have  decayed  into  exclusiveness,  self-congratulation,  con- 
tempt of  others,  insistence  upon  the  outward,  indifference  to 
the  essential — a  Christianity  of  the  outward  platter,  a 
Christianity  of  the  whitened  grave.  It  Avould  be  interesting 
to  tell  how  St.  Paul  had  converted  the  Galatians,  and  how 
and  why  these  formalists  and  Pharisees  had  perverted  them  ; 
but  we  can  only  mention  the  bare  fact.  Suffice  it  that,  in 
order  to  pervert  them,  the  Judaisers  (as  at  Corinth)  had  in- 
dulged in  surreptitious  innuendoes  against  the  authority  and 
teaching  of  St.  Paul.  Moses,  they  said,  was  inspired  ;  Moses 
gave  the  Law  at  Sinai ;  Moses  wrote  the  Holy  Book  by 
verbal  dictation ;  Moses  laid  down  all  the  rules  of  Leviticus. 
Who  is  this  Paul  who  teaches  you  that  you  are  free  from  these 
things  ?  What  ?  deny  the  inspiration  of  the  Bible  ?  What  ? 
fly  in  the  face  of  a  divine  revelation  ?  Read  for  yourselves, 
they  said  to  the  Galatians.  The  Bible  bids  you  to  be 
circumcised  ;  the  Bible  says  "  Cursed  be  he  that  abideth  not 
by  all  the  things  written  in  the  book  of  the  law  to  do  them." 
How  dare  you  disobey  Moses  and  listen  to  this  sceptic,  this 
rationalist,  this  unorthodox,  unsound  Paul  ?  And  further  than 
this,  they  used  the  two  bad  arguments  of  every  bad  cause — 
l^ersonality  and  persecution.  Paul  was  not  there  for  them  to 
persecute,  but  they  could  abuse  him.  "  He  is  no  Apostle ; 
he  is  quite  inferior  to  the  Apostles  ;  he  is  disobedient  to  the 

Synod  at  JiTUsalem  (see  Carpzov,  Dc  Sijnagogd  cum  Tionore  scpidtd,  1716),  but 
these  Cliristian  Pharisees  were  engaged  in  its  resuscitation. 

^  Exactly  as  the  Jew  Tryjiho  in  Justin  Martyr's  dialogue  (c.  viii.  p.  226) 
says  "  First  be  circumcised,  then  keep  the  Sabbaths,  and  the  feasts  cf  the  new 
moons  of  Ood,  and  in  a  word,  do  all  the  things  written  in  the  law,  and  then 
perhaps  (!)  you  will  find  mercy  from  God." 


St.  Paul's  Indignation.  257 

Apostles ;  he  is  inconsistent ;  all  Scripture  (by  which  tliey 
meant,  more  ccclesiastico,  all  their  interpretations  of  Scripture) 
is  against  his  views ;  he  is  heretical ;  he  is  dangerous."  So, 
blinded  by  the  conceit  of  ignorance,  and  the  violence  of 
party,  many  professing  Christians  spoke  of  Christ's  saints  and 
servants  then,  as  many  professing  Christians  speak  of  Christ's 
saints  and  servants  now. 

3.  St.  Paul  saw  that  it  was  time  to  speak  out,  and  speak 
out  he  did.  The  matter  at  issue  was  one  of  vital  importance. 
The  Gospel  did  not  mean  that  the  Gentiles  were  to  be  con- 
verted into  Jews.  The  essence  of  the  Gospel,  the  liberty 
which  Christ  had  given,  the  redemption  for  which  He  had 
died  was  at  stake.  The  fate  of  the  battle — of  the  battle  of 
spirituality  against  historic  tradition — hung  apparently  upon 
his  single  arm.  He  alone  was  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles. 
To  him  alone  had  it  been  granted  to  see  the  fuU  bearings  of 
this  question.  A  new  faith  must  not  be  choked  at  its  birth 
by  the  past  prejudices  of  its  nominal  adherents.  The  hour 
had  come  when  concession  was  no  longer  possible.  It  was 
necessary  to  prove  once  and  for  ever  the  falsity  of  the  position 
that  a  man  could  not  become  a  perfect  Christian  without 
becoming  a  partial  Jew.  Accordingly  he  flung  all  reticence 
and  all  compromise  to  the  winds.  There  was  in  St.  Paul 
none  of  that  timid  pettiness  and  effeminate  conventionality 
which  has  been  too  often  the  bane  of  priests.  Hot  with 
righteous  anger  he  wrote  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians.  It 
was  his  gage  of  battle  to  the  incompetence  of  traditionalism, 
his  trumpet-note  of  defiance  to  the  usurpations  of  Pharisaism ; 
and  it  gave  no  uncertain  sound.  Against  all  slavery  to  the 
outward — all  reliance  on  the  mechanical — he  used  words 
which  were  battles.  If  he  had  given  grounds  for  the  charge 
of  "inconsistency"  by  his  indifference  to  trifles,  and  his 
willingness  to  sacrifice  details  to  princij)les,  there  should  at 
least  be  no  further  doubt  as  to  what  he  meant  and  taught. 
He  would  leap  ashore  among  his  enemies  and  burn  his  ships 
behind  him.      He  would  draw  the  sword  against  this  false 


GALATIANS.. 


258  The  Epistles. 

gospel,  and  fling  away  the  scabbard.  What  Luther  did  at 
Wittenberg,  and  at  Worms,  and  at  Wartburg,  that,  and  more 
than  that  St.  Paul  did  when  he  wrote  the  Epistle  to  the 
Galatians.  It  was  the  manifesto  of  that  spiritual  reformation 
which  was  involved  in  the  very  idea  of  Christianity.  More 
than  any  book  which  was  ever  written  these  few  pages  marked 
an  epoch  in  history.  It  was,  for  the  early  days  of  Christi- 
anity, the  Confession  of  Augsburg  and  the  Protest  of  Spires 
in  one.  But  it  was  these  combined  with  intense  personality 
and  impassioned  polemics.  His  weakness  of  eyesight  usually 
compelled  him  to  employ  an  amanuensis ;  but  in  this  instance 
he  felt  driven,  at  all  costs,  to  write  with  his  own  hand,  though 
it  could  only  be  in  large,  awkward,  uneven  characters.  To 
the  Churches  of  Galatia  he  never  came  again  ;  but  the  words 
scrawled  on  those  few  sheets  of  papyrus  were  destined  to 
wake  echoes  which  have  lived,  and  shall  live  for  ever  and  for 
ever.  Savonarola  heard  them  and  Wiclif,  and  Huss,  and 
Luther,  and  Tyndale,  and  Wesley.  They  were  the  Magna 
Charta  of  spiritual  emancipation. 

4.  It  requires  much  thought  and  study  to  feel  the  force 
and  beauty  of  a  letter  of  which  almost  every  sentence  is  a 
thunderbolt,  and  of  which  every  word,  when  one  understands 
it,  is  alive.  It  has  six  chapters.  Roughly  speaking,  the  first 
two  chapters  are  an  autobiographic  retrospect,  written  to 
establish  his  Apostolic  independence  ;  the  next  two  prove 
the  dogmatic  position ;  the  two  last  are  the  j^ractical 
application. 

The    opening   salutation,   and    the    closing    words   of    an 

Epistle,  often  furnish  us  with  its  main  purport.     It  is  so  in 

this  instance.     "  Paul  an  Apostle — not  from  men,  nor  by  the 

instrumentality  of  any  man — but  by  Jesus  Christ,  and  by 

God  our  Father,  and  all  the  brethren  with  me  "  (for  he  writes 

from    Corinth,  where   he   had    many   with   him  ^ )    "to  the 

churches  of  Galatia.^     Grace  to  you  and  f)eace  from  God  the 

^  Timothy,  Gains  of  Dcrhe,  Aristarchus,  Tropliinuis,  Titus,  Justus, 
Sosthenes,  &c. 

2  The  separate  nationality  of  the  Cliurches  of  Galatia  bound  them  very 


Impetuous  Abruptness.  259 

Father,  and  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  gave  Himself  for  our  galatians. 
sins  that  He  may  deliver  us  from  this  present  evil  world." 
Notice,  first,  the  stern  compression  of  the  salutation.  It  is 
not,  as  in  other  Epistles,  to  "  the  beloved  of  God  ; "  not  to 
"  the  saints  in  Christ  Jesus ; "  not  to  "  the  saints  and  faithful 
brethren  ; "  but,  in  his  impetuous  desire  to  deal  at  once  with 
their  errors,  simply  "to  the  Churches  of  Galatia."  Notice 
too,  the  emphatic  assertion  of  his  Apostolate,  as  though  he 
had  said,  "  Sjoeak  not  to  me  of  the  authority  of  James,  or  of 
the  Twelve — the  'super-exalted  Apostles'  of  your  Judaic 
seducers  ^ — I  am  not  responsible  to  them.  I  owe  to  them  no 
allegiance.  My  commission  is  not  through  them,  but  direct 
from  Christ.  ^  Then  notice,  thirdly,  how  he  strikes  the  key- 
note of  the  Epistle  in  the  word  "  deliver."  ^  Your  circumcisions, 
and  your  Judaisms  are  vain.  In  Christ  alone — only  by  faith 
in  Him — does  salvation  come. 

Then,  without  a  word  of  the  thanksgiving  which  is  found 
in  every  other  Ej^istle,  he  bursts,  with  startling  abruptness, 
into  the  subject  of  which  his  mind  is  so  indignantly  full.  "  I 
am  amazed  that  you  are  so  quickly  shifting  from  the  grace  of 
Christ  into  a  different  Gospel."  The  very  word  "  shifting  " 
may  perhaps,  as  Jerome  says,  be  a  sharp  paronomasia — a 
reference  to  their  name  Galatae,  as  though  it  were  derived 
from  a  Hebrew  word  meaning  "  to  move."    "  Your 


closely  into  one  community.  Bleck, -E'v'hZc//!.  5,  155.  The  Chnrch  was  com- 
posed both  of  Jews  (iii.  13,  23,  25  ;  iv.  3,  5)  and  Gentiles  (iii.  29  ;  iv.  8,  12, 
17,  21  ;  V.  2;  vi.  12).  ,    ,    ,     ,         , 

^  Acts  XV.  24,  TLViS  e'l  i}ixii)V  i^eAdovTes  .  .  .  avaffKevd^ovTes  Tas  ^vxo.s  v/xuv 
.  .  .  as  ov  SiecrreiAa^efla. 

■■^  A  candid  reader  can  hardly  fail  to  see  that  St.  Paul  writes  almost  in  a 
tone  of  ii-ritation  at  the  use  made  of  the  names  of  the  Twelve  to  disparage 
himself.  Otherwise  he  would  liardly  have  invented  and  used  twice  over,  the 
sti'auge  and  ironical  phrase,  ol  vnepKiav  anSaroAoi,  "the  out-and-out,"  or 
"  over-exceedingly  "  Apostles.  He  was  a  man  of  like  passions  with  ourselves, 
and  even  our  Lord's  example  shows  that  "the  spirit  of  meekness"  must 
sometimes  give  place  to  indignation.  There  was  scarcely  a  Church  apparently 
which  Paul  founded  with  such  infinite  toil  and  peril,  into  which  tlicse  easy 
and  comfortable  missionaries,  with  tlieii-  exalted  pretensions,  did  not  thrust 
themselves.  But  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  when  they  had  unwarrantably 
used  the  names  of  James  and  of  the  Twelve  at  Antioch  they  had  been  expressly 
repudiated  by  those  Apostles  in  the  synodical  letter  from  Jerusalem. 

'>  Gal.  i.  oircas  i^4\r]Tai  T]fj.as.    See  Bishop  Light  foot,  ad.  loc. 

s  2 


260  Tlie  Epistles. 

is  but  too  like  your  name.^  Your  Jewish  teachers  have  told 
you  that  I  am  shifty  and  inconsistent ;  that  I  try  to  please 
men.  The  blame  applies  to  you  rather  than  to  me.  But  no 
one  shall  at  any  rate  mistake  what  I  now  say,  which  is,  that 
if  man  or  angel  preach  a  different  gospel,  let  him  be 
anathema — let  the  ban  fall  on  him.  Is  that  clear  ?  If  not  I 
repeat  again,  "  Let  him  be  anathema."  '^  He  then  plunges  to 
the  end  of  the  second  chapter  into  a  personal  narrative,  to 
prove  the  absolute  independence  of  his  own  authority.  He 
proves  it  negatively  by  showing,  from  his  education  and 
conversion,  how  small  had  been  his  intercourse  with  any  of 
the  Apostles.  He  proves  it  positively,  by  showing  that  the 
Apostles  had  been  compelled  by  facts  to  recognise  his 
mission;  and  that,  on  one  very  memorable  occasion,  he 
had,  before  the  whole  Church^  withstood  and  condemned 
Peter  to  his  face,  and  proved  to  him  that  if  the  works  of  the 
law  were  necessary,  then  Christ  had  died  in  vain. 

5.  He  then  turns,  in  the  third  chapter,  from  personal  self- 
defence  to  the  defence  of  the  truth  he  had  preached.  He 
shows  them  that  their  new  ceremonialism,  so  far  from  being 

^  MeraTieea-ee,  Gal.  i.  6.  Jerome  thinks  that  St.  Paul  mentally  connected 
Galatae  with  ^^3.  If  so,  there  is  an  indignant  play  on  the  name  as  though 
it  implied  inherent  fickleness.  St.  Paul  insists  that  the  teachings  of  the 
Judaists  do  not  constitute  a  mere  subordinate  school  of  thought.  It  is  not  merely 
"another"  {aWo)  but  a  "different"  Gospel  (eVepof). 

^  St.  Paul's  impetuosity  of  feeling  is  here  indicated,  not  only  by  the  em- 
phatic repetition  of  avadefxa  fo-rw,  as  though  he  were  determined  that  there 
should  be  no  mistake  about  it ;  but  also  by  the  way  in  which  he  almost  passes 
an  anathema  on  an  imaginary  angel.  We  must  remember  that  in  spite  of  all 
he  had  endured  (tri)  St.  Paul  had  been  accused  of  complaisance  (i.  10),  and 
even  that  his  truthfulness  had  been  called  in  question  {i.  20).  His  enemies 
had  repi-esented  him  as  a  sort  of  ecclesiastical  demagogue  (1  Thess.  ii.  4-6) 
serving  no  ends  but  his  own  and  Satan's. 

*  This  was  an  offence  for  which  the  Ebionites  never  forgave  St.  Paul.  "If 
you  call  me  flagrantly  in  the  wrong,  {icareyvoia-fjLei'ov),"  says  St.  Peter  (Ps.  Clem. 
Horn.  xvii.  19),  "you  accuse  God  who  revealed  Christ  to  me."  The  Pratdicatio 
Petri  says  tliat  the  two  Apostles  were  not  reconciled  till  death.  Even  the 
fiithers  tried  to  explain  away  the  passage.  Origen  (ap.  Jer.  Ep.  cxii.),  Chry- 
sostom,  and  (at  first)  Jerome  treated  it  as  a  pre-arranged  scheme  between  the 
Apostles  (/coTo  <TxvfJ.a)  ;  and  Clemens  of  Alexandria  {ap.  Euseb.  H.E.  i.  12) 
tries  to  make  out  that  Kephas  does  not  mean  St.  Peter.  St.  Peter's  weakness 
bore  otlier  bitter  fruit,  long  years  afterwards.  It  was  one  ultimate  cause  of 
I'^bionite  attacks  on  St.  Paul ;  of  Gnostic  attacks  on  Judaism  ;  of  Porphyry's 
slanders  against  the  Apostles  (comp.  Celsus  ap.  Orig.  v.  64)  ;  and  of  Jerome's 
quarrel  with  Augustine  (see  Lightfoot,  pp.  123-126). 


Ceremonialisni.  261 

an  advance,  was  a  mere  retrogression.  It  was  a  retrogression  < 
from  the  spirit  to  the  flesh,  from  faith  to  works,  from  the 
Gospel  to  the  law,  from  tlie  eternal  to  the  transient,  from 
Christian  manhood  to  childish  tutelage.  "  Dull  Galatians  1 
who  bewitched  you  with  his  evil  eye  ? — you,  before  whose 
eyes  Jesus  Christ  crucified  was  conspicuously  painted."  I 
held  up  before  you  a  banner,  as  it  were,  blazoned  with  the 
Cross  of  Christ ;  ^  and  lo !  under  some  strange  sorcery  of 
sinister  influence,  you  are  apostatizing  to  Judaic  rituals ! 
And  then,  throughout  these  two  chapters,  he  proceeds  to 
show  them  that  the  law  of  which  they  boasted  so  much,  on 
which 'they  relied  so  much,  really  placed  them  under  the 
curse  which  it  had  itself  pronounced  on  its  imperfect  fulfil- 
ment ;  that  the  promise  to  the  faith  of  Abraham  preceded  the 
Law ;  that  the  Law — so  far  from  being  supreme  and  final — 
had  a  mere  pedagogic  function  for  those  in  an  inferior  con- 
dition ;  that  it  was  meant  only  to  be  "  an  usher  to  Christ " 
(iii.  24),^  meant  to  educate  men  into  the  sense  of  their  own 
sinfulness  and  helplessness,  and  thus  lead  them  to  Christ.  So 
far  from  being  permanent  and  perfect,  the  Law  was  but 
supplementary,^  parenthetical,  *  provisional,*  mediate ;  ®  a 
means  not  an  end ;  a  relative  purpose  of  God  taken  up 
and  lost  in  His  absolute  purpose ;  a  training  for  infants ;  a 
harsh  incident  in  a  necessary  tutelage  ;  a  fetter  for  slaves  who 

1  Just  as  Augnstine  of  Canterbury,  with  his  monks,  carried  an  embroidered 
banner  with  the  monogram  of  Christ  when  they  came  before  King  Ethelbert. 

2  St.  Paul  puts  the  Promise  to  Abraham  in  all  respects  above  the  Law,  and 
indeed  regards  it  as  an  anticipated  Gospel  (iii.  14-18).  The  difficult  verse 
iii.  16  seems  merely  to  be  a  specimen  of  what  the  Rabbis  would  have  called 
s6d,  the  mystic  explanation  of  Scripture.  St.  Paul  says  that  the  word  "  seed  " 
((Tirepfia)  is  a  singular  and  collective  term,  and  points  to  Christ.  It  is  true 
that  to  use  either  the  Hebrew  Zeraivi  or  the  Greek  ffTrepfiaTu  for  "  offspring" 
would  be  a  barbarism,  for  either  plural  could  only  mean  "  kinds  of  grain  "  as 
St.  Paul  was  perfectly  aware  (1  Cor.  xv.  38).  But  the  illustration  (it  is  no 
more,  comp.  Rom.  iv.  ]3-18)  depends  on  the  fact  that  the  collective  singular 
term  {Zcrah,  <rn4pfia)  was  used  in  Genesis,  and  not  "sons"  or  "children." 

"  (TTLSiaTaffaerai,  iii.  14  ;  TrpoffeTidrj,  iii.  19. 

*  -irapeiariKOev,  Eom.  v.  20. 

5  rwv  wapa^affecov  x«P"'>  ^XP'^  "5  i(.T.\.  iii.  19.  This  passage  requires 
Kom.  vii.  7-13  for  its  comment. 

"  Given  mediately  by  Angels,  not  by  God  (Dent,  xxxiii.  2,  &c.)  ;  and 
received  mediately  from  Moses,  not  dii'ect  from  God. 


262  The  Epistles. 

ALATiANs.  had  to  be  educated  into  a  yearning  for  liberty.*  They  must 
choose  between  Christ  and  the  Law.  If  the  Law  sufficed, 
Christ  had  died  in  vain.  If  Christ  sufficed,  the  Law  was 
needless.  And  then,  with  many  a  tender  reproach  and 
appeal,  he  adopts  the  Kabbinic  fashion  of  exegesis,  in  which 
he  had  been  trained,  and  proves  by  the  allegory  of  Sarah  and 
Agar  2  that  we  are  no  longer  slaves  but  sons  ;  that  the  physical 
seed  of  Abraham  may  be  the  spiritual  seed  of  Ishmael ;  that 
circumcision  may  in  God's  sight  be  uncircumcision,  and 
uncircumcision  the  only  true  circumcision ;  ^  that  the  actual 
Jew  may  be  in  God's  sight  the  Gentile,  and  the  actual  Gentile 
the  spiritual  Jew.  And  all  this,  remember,  he  had  the  daring 
to  urge  at  a  time  when  Judaism  was  growing  ever  narrower 
and  narrower  in  its  haughty  exclusiveness ;  ever  more  and 
more  damnatory  in  its  rigid  demands ;  ever  more  and  more 
idolatrous  of  its  deified  Law.  Imagine  the  feelings  of  a 
prejudiced  Jew,  who  should  thus  hear  one  of  his  own  blood 
arguing  that  his  j)rized  nomocracy  was  valueless  ;  that  his 
haughty  particularism  was  usurpation  ;  that  his  Levitic  law 
consisted  of  "  weak  and  beggarly  elements  ; "  ^  that,  in  them- 

^  It  is  here  that  we  have  the  famous  verse,  "  Now  a  mediator  is  not  a  medi- 
ator of  one;  but  God  is  one"  (iii.  20),  with  its  "300  different  expla- 
nations." This  diversity  of  interpretation  arises  from  isolating  the  words 
from  then-  context,  and  mistaking  the  simple  meanings  of  "mediator" 
and  "  one."  The  obvious,  and  now  generally-accepted  meaning  of  the  passage 
seems  to  be — the  Promise  to  Abraham  is  not  only  antecedent  to  the  Law  of 
Moses,  but  intrinsically  above  it.  The  Law  is  of  the  natiu-e  of  a  contract 
,  which  rer[uu'cs  two  conti-acting  parties  ;  but  in  the  promise  God  stood  alone, 

and  no  ' '  mediator  "  (no  intermediate  agency  like  that  of  Moses  or  the  Angels) 
was  necessary. 
*  .  ^         *  But  the  immense  superiority  of  St.  Paul's  allegorising  over  that  of  Philo 

byu4/Vw<?  is  shown  by  his  i)lain  aecejitanco  of  the  literat  history  in  which  he  traces  a 
»V      ^    I  divine  law.     lie  does  not  with  Philo  make  Abraham  a  symbol  of  "  the  soul," 
Sarah  of    "Divine  Wisdom;"   Isaac  of   "Human  Wisdom;"  Ishmael  of 
"Sophistry,"  &c. 
3  It  was  all  the  more  necessary  for  St.  Paul  to  speak  thus  plainly  because 
-         his  opponents  (owing  to  his  circumcision  of  Timothy,  and  as  I   believe,  of 
^         Titus  also),  had  taunted  him  with  having  himself,  at  one  time,  preached  cir- 
cumcision (v.  11).     Similarly  in  Ps.  Clement  {Horn.  ii.  p.  3),  St.  Peter  chai'ges 
"the  enemy  "  (i.e.  St.  Paul)  with  having  represented  him  as  preaching  the 
abolition  of  the  Law. 

•*  iv.  3,  9.  The  word  (rroixei'o  either  means  "rudiments"  the  A  B  C  of 
religion;  or  "physical  elements"  material  and  sensuous  symbols  invested 
with  religious  significance. 


St.  Paul's  Boldness.  263 

selves,  his  ritualisms  were  as  unavailing  as  the  ritualisms  of  galatians. 

heathendom ;    that   his   vaunted    circumcision   was   now    as 

useless  and  as  indefensible  as  the  ghastlier  concisions  of  the 

Priests  of  Dindymus.'     To  the  bigoted  few  every  one  of  these 

propositions   would    seem   to    be    a   startling   and    offensive 

paradox.     It  requires  no  small  knowledge  of  history  fully  to 

realise  the  si3lendid  originality,  the  superb  courage,  required 

for  the  enunciation  of  such  opinions.     And  let  us  never  forget 

that,  as  St.  Paul  differed  from  all  other  saints  and  martyrs  in 

the  intensity  and  prolongation  of  his  sufferings,  so  too  did  he 

differ  from  them  in  being  not  only  an  heroic  sufferer,  but  a 

man  of  such  fearless  and  leading  genius  as  the  world  has 

rarely  seen.     But  he  knew  what  he  was  doing.     He  had  fully 

counted  the  cost.     His  enemies  charged  him  with  hunting 

for  popularity  by  suppressing  his  real  convictions.     "  Am  I 

now  seeking  to  please  men  ? "  he  asks  (i.  10).     He  might 

have  said  with  Luther,  "  In  former  days  I  used  to  be  most 

safe.     Now  I  have  loaded  myself  with  the  hatred  of  all  the 

world."  ^ 

C.  From  these  personal  and  doctrinal  sections  he  passes  to 
the  practical  part  of  the  letter.  The  two  last  chapters  are 
rich  in  counsel,  as  are  all  similar  parts  of  St.  Paul's  teaching. 
Here  you  have  the  law  of  Christian  love ;  the  works  of  the 
flesh,  and  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit ;  the  duty  of  meek  forgiveness, 

^  Nothing  wonld  have  been  more  exasperating  to  the  Judaisers  than  this 
suggested  analogy  between  their  ceremonies  and  those  of  heathendom.  But, 
as  Hausrath  points  out  {N.  Zeitg.  ii.  268),  St.  Paul  at  least  seems  to  imjoly 
that  there  is  no  essential  difTerence  between  observing  the  new  moon  in  the 
synagogue,  and  observing  it  in  the  temple  of  Men  ;  between  living  in 
booths  in  autumn,  or  wailing  for  Altis  in  spring  ;  between  cu'cumcision  and 
the  self-mutilation  of  the  Galli.  Nearly  all  critics  are  now  agreed  that 
"OfpeKov  Kol  aTvoK6\\iovTai  in  v.  12  means  "since  they  attach  so  much  importance 
to  circumcision,  would  that  they  would  go  a  little  further  and  make  eunuchs 
of  themselves  altogether."  (Comp.  a.-KoKeKOfj.fi4voi,  Dent,  xxiii.  1.)  Reuss  calls 
this  "tme  2yhrase  affreuse  qui  revolte  notrc  sentiment."  But  Paul  says  elsewhere 
that  "circumcision  "  would  be  to  the  Gentiles  a  mere  "concision,"  a  mere 
"cutting  the  iiesh "  (Phil.  iii.  2,  3),  and  we  must  not  judge  a  writer  by  the 
taste  of  nearly  two  millenniums  later.  What  modern  feeling  would  stigmatise 
as  coarse,  ancient  feeling  would  accept  as  justifiable  plain-speaking. 

2  Luther  went  through  the  same  experiences  as  St.  Paul.  "  Ministerium 
Ecclesiae,"  he  adds,  "  omnibus  periculis  expositum  est ;  diaboli  insultationibus, 
mundi  ingratitudini,  sectarum  blasphemiis." — CoUoq.  i.  13. 


264  The  Epistles. 

the  noble  rule  "  bear  ye  the  burdens  (^upv)  "  of  one  another's 
cares  and  weaknesses ;  the  solemn  warning  "  each  one  shall 
bear  his  own  load  {(popriov) "  of  moral  responsibility ;  lastly, 
the  unchangeable  duties  of  liberal  generosity, — "  While  we 
have  time  let  us  do  good  unto  all  men,  but  especially  to 
them  that  are  of  the  household  of  faith." 

Then  came  the  conclusion,  "  Look  at  the  large  letters  in 
which  I  have  written  to  you  with  my  own  hand : "  ^  the 
polemical  summary  of  what  he  had  been  teaching — that 
circumcision  is  nothing  (vi.  12-15) ;  the  doctrinal  thesis  that 
Christ  is  all  in  all  (14 — 16) ;  the  flash  of  personal  feeling, 
"  Henceforth  let  no  man  trouble  me,  for  I  bear  in  triumph  on 
my  body  the  brand-marks  of  Jesus"^ — the  brands  which  mark 
me  as  his  deserter,  his  recruit,  his  slave.  What  he  means  the 
Galatians  to  understand  is  that  as  the  Hieroduli  in  many 
heathen  temples,  and  the  priests  of  Mithras  and  the  Pessi- 
nuntian  goddess  were  branded  with  physical  marks,  so  he 
too  was  branded  for  the  sacred  service  of  Christ  his  Lord. 
Then  he  adds  the  last  word  of  peace  and  love,  "  The  grace  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  be  with  your  spirit,  brethren.^   Amen." 

7.  Notice,  in  conclusion,  the  historic  importance  of  the 
letter,  and  its  practical  significance. 

i.  Its  historic  importance.  It  did  a  work  once  and  for  all 
time.  It  put  an  end  to  the  circumcision  party  and  the 
circumcision  controversy.*     It  showed  that  if  a  man  wanted 

^  The  size  of  the  scrawled  uneven  letters  was  probably  dno  to  the  painful- 
ness  of  the  effort  to  write.  Manj'  congruent  circumstances  besides  the  Apostle's 
habitual  use  of  an  amanuensis  tend  to  prove  that  he  suffered  from  short- 
sightedness and  probably  from  oplithalmia. 

*  TO  ffriynara  tov  'lT)(rov.  "Stigmata"  were  brands  generally  inflicted  as  a 
punishment  on  slaves.  Hence  stujmatias  mcn.-na  "arascaL"  Brands  might 
be  marked  either  on  a  slave;  a  Hierodoulos  (Herod,  ii.  113) ;  a  deserter  ;  or 
a  recruit  (Konsch.  Das  N.T.,  Tcrtullian,  p.  700).  Hence  for  the  first  time  in 
Kom.  i.  1,  as  in  later  Epistles  (Phil.  Tit.)  St.  Paul  calls  himself  "a  slave  of  Jesus 
Clirist."  Justified  by  faith  in  Christianity  he  has  been  sanctified  by  crucifixion 
with  Christ  to  the  world. 

'  The  deeply-moved  tenderness  of  the  Apostle  breaks  out  in  the  unusual 
addition  of  the  word  "bretliren."  We  notice  as  the  Epistle  advances  a 
growing  mildness  of  tone  towards  the  community  (iv.  12-20),  but  a  deepening 
indignation  towards  their  pervcrtors  (v.  7-12,  vi.  12,  13). 

*  ol  ■nepirtfj.vSfxivoi  (vi.  13). 


St.  Paul  a  Liberator.  265 

to  be  a  Christian,  he  must  give  up  all  reliance  on  exclusive- 
ness  and  on  externalism.     The  very  inmost  spirit  of  Chris- 
tianity is  comprehensive,  not  exclusive;  spiritual,  not  external; 
catholic,  not  sectarian  ;  tolerant,  not  partisan.     A  Christian 
must  rely,  not  on  dogmas,  not  on  observances,  not  on  works 
of  any  kind,  but  on  Christ  alone.     This  letter  was  the  death- 
blow of  that  Judaic  tyranny  which  is  constantly  endeavouring 
to  reassert  itself  over  Christian  freedom.     It  was  the  proof 
for  ever  that  the  spirit  of  faithful  godliness  is  the  spirit  not 
of  the  slave,  but  of  the  son.     "Judaism  was  the  narrowest 
{i.e.  the  most  special)  of  religions ;  Christianity  was  the  most 
human  and  all-embracing.     In  a  few  years   the  latter  was 
evolved  out  of  the  former,  taking  all  the  intensity  of  its  fore- 
runner,  with  none  of   its   limitations."     Without  St.  Paul's 
Epistles,  and  especially  the  Epistle  to  Galatians,  to  show  us 
how  the  chasm  was   bridged   "the  change   would   seem  as 
violent  and  inconceivable  as  a  convulsion  which  should  mingle 
the  Jordan  and  the  Tiber."     By  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians 
Paul  was  God's  great  instrument  for  saving  Christianity  from 
being  stifled  at  its  birth  by  theories  and  rituals.     It  ranks 
him  among  the  greatest  liberators  of  mankind.     It  places 
him  at  the  head  of  those  saints  of  God  who,  in  differing 
tones,  have,  in  all  great  ages,  proclaimed   the   same   great 
truth,  that  God  is  love ;  and  that  what  He  wants  of  us  is 
neither  metaphysical  theology,  nor  elaborate  ritual,  nor  ascetic 
practices,  but  love  to  Him  our  Father  in  Christ  Jesus,  and 
love  for  His  sake  to  our  brother  man  : — 

"  Of  all  the  trutlis  that  from  Thee  shine, 

Lord,  Thy  philanthropy  divine 

Next  to  my  heart  still  lies, 

And  turns  my  sphitual  eyes 

From  all  ill-natured  schemes  designed 

To  bound  what  Thou  hast  to  no  bounds  confined." 

ii.  And  as  to  the  practical  meaning  of  the  Epistle,  may  it 
not  teach  us,  if  we  study  it  aright,  what  religion  is,  and  what 
it  is  not  ?  It  is  not  to  wash  the  cup  and  the  platter.  It  is 
not  to  wear  the  broad  phylacteries  of  profession.     It  is  not 


GALATIANS. 


266  The  Epistles. 

to  go  to  any  number  of  services,  or  to  partake  of  any  number 
of  fasting  communions.  It  is  not  to  have  shibboleths  upon 
the  lips,  or  to  be  the  fuglemen  of  parties,  or  to  condemn  our 
neighbours  because  they  think  otherwise  than  we,  or  to  look 
askance  at  every  little  deviation  from  our  own  particular 
orthodoxy,  or  to  call  ourselves  by  jDarty  names,  or  to  nish  into 
current  controversies,  or  to  repeat  "  Lord,  Lord,"  or  to  say  or 
do  many  other  things  which  popular  religionism  requires  as 
tests.  It  is  a  much  harder,  and  rarer,  and  fairer,  and  sweeter 
thing  than  these.  It  is  to  love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in 
sincerity  and  truth,  and  to  love  one  another  as  He  gave  us 
commandment.  It  is  to  love  God  with  all  our  heart,  and 
our  neighbour  as  ourselves.  It  is  to  walk  in  the  Spirit,  so  that 
we  cannot  fulfil  the  lusts  of  the  flesh.  It  is  to  pray  with 
humblest  sincerity,  and  try  to  live  in  accordance  with  our 
prayers.  It  is  to  be,  to  the  utmost  of  our  power,  gentle, 
forgiving,  generous,  brave,  pure,  as  Jesus  was.  It  is  to  be 
fearlessly  and  faithfully  true  to  the  best  we  know.  It  is,  as 
St.  Paul  says,  "  the  end  of  the  commandment,"  which  is 
charity  out  of  a  pure  heart,  and  of  a  good  conscience,  and 
of  faith  unfeigned.  "  For "  (in  the  closing  words  of  this 
Epistle)  "  in  Christ  Jesus  neither  circumcision  availeth 
anything,  nor  uncircumcision,  but  a  new  creature;  and,  aC 
many  as  walk  according  to  this  rule,  peace  be  on  them,  and 
mercy,  and  upon  the  Israel  of  God." 


Outline  of  tlic  Epistle.  267 


NOTE  I.  G. 

OUTLINE   OF  THE   EPISTLE. 

It  falls  into  three  marked  divisions, 
I,  Personal. 
II.  Doctrinal. 
III.  Practical. 

I.  Personal. 

1.  Greeting  (i.  1-5). 

2.  Instead  of  the  thanksgiving  a  complaint  of  their  fickleness 

(i.  6-10). 

3.  A  vindication  of  his  personal  independence  and  authority. 

i.  Negatively.     He  was  an  Apostle  before  he  had  any  inter- 
course with  the  Twelve  (i.  11-24), 
ii.  Positively,     (a)  The  Twelve  had  acknowledged  his  equal 
mission  (ii.  1-10)  ;  and 
O)  He  had  openly  withstood  Peter  at  Antioch  (ii.  11-21)  ; 
including  his  argument  against  St.  Peter's  conduct  in 
holding  aloof  from  the  Gentiles. 

II.  Doctrinal. 

Our  justification  by  faith  not  by  external  observances  as  proved 
(o)  By  the  Christian  consciousness  (iii.  1-5). 
(^)  By  the  Old  Testament  (iii.  6-18). 
Hence  the  true  position  of  the  Law  is  shown  to  be  secondary, 
(a)    Objectively.    By  the   very  nature  and    universality  of 

Christianity  (iii.  19-29). 
(/3)    Suljectively.   By  the  free   spiritual  life  of  Christianity 

(iv.  1-18). 
(y)  After  affectionate  warnings  against  those  by  whom  they 

had  been   misled,  he  illustrates    his  arguments  by  the 

allegory  of  Sarah  and  Agar  (iv.  11-30). 

III.  Practical. 

(a)  The  nature  of  Christian  Freedom  (v.  1-12). 

0)    Warnings  against    its  abuse,    both   general   (13-18)   and 

special  (v.  19-vi.  10). 
Closing    summary  of    his    main    theses    (ii.   17),    polemical 
(12-13),  personal  (14-17),  and  doctrinal  (15-lG).    Blessing 
(18). 
The  letter  contains  the  germ  of  the  Theological  system  which  St.  Paul 
develops  more  fully  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans. 

Bengel  calls  ii.  19-21    "  Summa  ac  medulla  Christiamsmi"  ;  and  of 
v.  1-6,  he  says,  "  In  these  stands  all  Christianity." 


TPIE  EPISTLE   TO  THE  EOMANS. 

WRITTEN   AT   CORINTH,   A.D.   58. 

"  First  of  all  (he  wrote)  to  the  Corintliians  forbidding  schismatic  factious- 
ness ;  to  the  Galatians  forbidding  circumcision  ;  but  to  the  Romans  at  greater 
length,  according  to  the  general  tenor  of  the  Scriptures  (?  ordine  Scriptm-arum), 
Imt  showing  that  the  foundation  of  the  Scriptures  is  Chi-ist." — Mukatorian 
Fkagment. 

"  Tota  ilia  Epistola  meo  judicio  totius  sacrae  Scripturae  turn  commentarius, 
turn  epitome,  immo  lux  et  Apocalyj)sis. " — LrniEn. 

•'  Christus  in  homine  ubi  fides  in  corde." — S.  Aug. 

"  But  to  the  Cross  He  nails  thy  enemies. 
The  law  that  is  against  thee,  and  the  sins 
Of  all  mankind  ;  with  Him  these  are  crucified 
Never  to  hurt  them  more  who  rightly  trust 
lu  this  His  satisfaction." — Milton,  Par.  Lost,  xii. 

"  Justification  and  sanctification  cohere,  but  they  are  not  one  and  the  same. 
It  is  faitli  alone  which  justifies,  and  yet  the  faith  which  justifies  is  not  alone  ; 
just  as  it  is  the  lieat  alone  of  the  sun  which  warms  the  earth,  and  yet  in  the 
sun  it  is  not  alone,  because  it  is  always  conjoined  with  light." — Calvin. 

"  The  righteousness  wherewith  we  shall  be  clothed  in  the  world  to  come  is 
l>oth  perfect  and  inherent ;  that  whereby  we  are  justified  is  perfect  but  not 
inherent ;  that  whereby  we  are  sanctified  uihereut  but  not  perfect." — Hookek. 

"  Faith  doth  not  shut  out  repentance,  hope,  love,  dread,  and  the  fear  of 
God,  to  be  joined  with  faith  in  every  man  that  is  justified  ;  but  it  shuttcth 
them  out  from  the  office  of  justifying." — Homily  of  Salvation,  p.  ii. 


INTEODUCTOEY. 


Jews  had  been  introduced  into  Rome  in  largo  numbers  by 
Pompeius  the  Great  (B.C.  63),  and  soon  began  to  multiply 
and  flourish.  Augustus,  influenced  by  friendship  for  the  first 
Herod,  had   improved   their  condition,  and   assigned  them 


The  Jews  in  Rome.  269 

the  quarter  of  Kome  beyond  the  Tiber,  which  they  have 
occupied  for  ages.^  They  were  always  hated  with  the  deep 
hatred  which  it  has  too  often  been  their  lot  to  inspire.^ 
Sejanus,  the  bad  minister  of  Tiberius,  tried  to  get  rid  of 
them.3  Claudius,  when  quarrels  arose  between  them  and  the 
Christians,  passed  a  futile  decree  for  their  banishment.*  But 
they  had  established  themselves  too  strongly  to  be  repressed, 
and  when  the  letter  to  the  Romans  was  written  in  a.d.  58 
they  were  a  large  and  powerful  community. 

Christianity  was  early  introduced  into  Rome.  Although 
even  when  this  letter  was  written  the  Church  presents  but 
few  traces  of  organisation.  Neither  the  Church  as  a  whole 
nor  bishops  nor  deacons  are  mentioned,  and  it  is  even  possible 
that  the  Jews  and  Gentiles  met  under  different  presbyters 
in  different  houses.  In  the  Neronian  persecution,  a.d.  64, 
the  Christian  martyrs  formed  (as  Tacitus  says)  "a  great 
multitude."  The  first  chance  seeds  of  Christianity  may  have 
been  wafted  to  Italy  by  the  Jews  and  proselytes  from  Rome 
who  heard  St.  Peter  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,^  or  by  those 
who  had  listened  to  St.  Stephen  in  the  synagogue  of  the 
Libertini.^  Probably  the  early  Christian  Church  at  Rome 
thus  casually  founded,  was  without  any  very  regular  organi- 
sation, for  of  any  such  constitution  this  Epistle  offers  no 
trace.  It  was  composed  of  both  Jewish  and  Gentile  elements,  '^ 
who  may  possibly  have  met  in  separate  communities.  We 
can  hardly  say  which  element  preponderated.''  St.  Paul 
seems  to  address  both.  In  xi.  13,  he  says,  "  I  speak  unto  you 
Gentiles,"  and  yet,  in  vii.  1,  he  says,  "  I  speak  to  them  that 
know  the  law."      In  i.  6-13,  xv.  15,  16,  he  writes  as  an 

1  Jos.  Antt.  xiv.  4,  §  §  1-5  ;  )3,  a,  i.  6,  §  9,  Cic.  pro  Flacco,  xxviii.  Tac.  Hist. 
V.  9 ;  Plutarch,  Povipcms,  xxxix. ;  Orosius,  vi.  6,  &c. 

-  See  Seekers  of ter  God,  p.  168.  Mart.  JSp]).  i.  42,  109;  vi.  93,  &c.  Juv. 
Sat.  xiv.  96,  134,  186,  201  ;  iii.  14,  296  ;  vi.  542  ;  Peri.  v.  184,  &c. 

3  Tac.  Ann.  ii.  85 ;  Sueton.  Tib.  36  ;  Jos.  Antt.  xviii.  3,  §  5. 

■•  Acts  xviii.  2  ;  Suet.  Claud.  25  ;  "impulsore  Chresto  tumultuantes." 

°  Acts  ii.  9.  ^  Acts  vi.  9. 

7  Hence  Neander,  Meyer,  De  Wette,  Olshausen,  Tholuclc,  Reuss,  &c,,  say 
til  at  the  letter  was  mainly  addressed  to  Gentiles  ;  Baur,  Schwegler,  Thiersch, 
Davidson,  "Wordsworth,  &c.,  to  Jews. 


9 


270  The  Epistles. 

MANS.  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles ;  in  x.  1,  he  speaks  of  the  Jews  in  the 
third  person  {virep  avroiv  "  for  them,"  not,  as  in  the  received 
text, "  for  Israel "),  and  in  ix. — xi.  he  is  not  so  much  addressing 
the  Jews  as  arguing  about  them.  In  the  later  chapters  he 
seems  to  be  addressing  Gentiles  of  liberal  views.  On  the 
other  hand,  in  iv.  1,  he  speaks  of  "Abraham  our  father  ; "  he 
assumes  that  his  readers  have  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the 
Old  Testament,  and  he  says  that  he  is  writing  "  to  them  that 
know  the  law  ;  "  and  in  ii.  17-24,  he  speaks  directly  to  Jews. 
Tregelles  points  out  that  there  are  more  quotations  from 
the  Old  Testament  in  this  letter  than  in  all  the  rest  put 
together.  The  reconciliation  of  these  apparent  contradictions 
lies  in  the  fact  that  the  nucleus  of  the  Church  was  Jewish, 
and  that  even  the  Gentiles  were  mainly  proselytes  who  at 
Rome  were  very  numerous.^ 

The  Church  of  Rome  claims  St.  Peter  as  its  actual  founder. 
For  that  claim  there  is  not  only  no  historic  evidence,  but 
such  evidence  as  we  have,  and,  indeed,  the  whole  tenor  of 
this  letter,  as  well  as  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  point  the 
other  way.  Early  Church  tradition  is  indeed  almost  unani- 
mous in  asserting  that  St.  Peter  was  martyred  at  Rome,  but 
his  visit  to  the  city  probably  did  not  long  precede  his  death. 
""  If  there  were  two  branches  of  the  Romish  Church,  one  Jewish 

and  one  Gentile,  each  with  its  own  bishops  or  presbyters, 
it  is  quite  possible  that  the  Jewish  section  should  have 
regarded  St,  Peter  as  its  head. 

Further,  it  may  now  be  regarded  as  highly  probable  that 

while  this  letter  was  primarily  intended  for  the  Christians  at 

/        Rome  it  was  at  the  same  time  an  encyclical  letter,  which  was 

'  sent  with  varying  terminations  to  other  Churches  such  as 

those  of  Ephesus  and  Thessalonica. 

St.  Paul  writes  as  a  stranger  to  strangers      He   has  no 

^  Tac.  Hist.  V.  5  ;  Seneca,  ap.  Aug.  De  Civ.  Dei,  vii.  11.  The  fact  is 
proved  by  old  inscriptions  in  the  Jewish  cemeteries,  "  Die  romi.sclie  Christen- 
gemeinde,  judenchristlich-es'senischen  Stammes,  aber  schon  danials  durch 
l{(!idenchristen,  anch  paulinisch  gesinnte,  vermehi't,  hat  die  unifassendste 
Darh'gung  dur  paiilinischon  Lelire  erhalten." — Hu.genfki.d. 


Character  of  the  Epistle.  Ill 

known  or  avowed  antagonist  among  the  Koman  Christians ; 
he  could  therefore  enter  with  perfect  cahnness  and  hicidity 
uiDon  this  systematic  exposition  of  the  specifically  Pauline 
Gospel.  The  tone  of  the  Epistle  is  essentially  conciliatory^ 
and  this  conciliatory  spirit  is  reflected  in  the  "  not  only  but 
also,"  of  iv.  16.  He  speaks  both  of  the  Jews  and  of  the  Law 
in  a  tone  far  more  tender  than  in  other  Epistles.^ 

He  writes  in  Greek,  because  Greek  was  universally  under- 
stood among  the  half-foreign  poorer  classes  of  the  imperial 
city.2  Ignatius,  Dionysius  of  Corinth,  Irenaeus,  Justin  Martyr, 
Clement,  Hennas,  all  wrote  in  Greek  for  Roman  Christians. 
All  writers  agree  in  recognising  the  greatness  of  the  Epistle. 
Calvin  said  that  "  every  Christian  man  should  feed  upon  it  as 
the  daily  bread  of  his  soul."  Luther  calls  it  "  the  chief  book 
of  the  New  Testament,  and  the  purest  Gospel."  Melanchthon 
made  it  the  basis  of  the  first  scientific  treatise  of  Reformation 
theology — the  Loci  Communis,  1521.  Coleridge  calls  it 
"  the  profoundest  book  in  existence."  Meyer,  "  the  greatest 
and  richest  of  all  the  apostolic  works."  Tholuck,  "  a  Christian 
philosojDhy  of  human  history."  Godet,  "  the  cathedral  of 
the  Christian  Faith."  According  to  Melanchthon,  De  Wette, 
and  others,  it  was  meant  to  be  didactic — a  compendium  of 
Pauline  dogma  in  the  form  of  an  apostolic  letter — a  system 
of  dogmatic  theology.  This  view  is  in  any  case  too  broad. 
The  letter  contains  an  exposition  of  the  doctrines  of  sin  and 
salvation  {Hamartiology ,  Sotcriology),  but  it  contains  none  of 
tlie  eschatology  of  the  Epistles  to  the  Thessalonians,  or  of 
the  specific  Christology  of  Ephesians  and  Colossians. 

According  to  Mangold  and  others  it  was  meant  to  be 
apologetic — a  defence  of  his  Apostolate,  his  general  preaching, 

1  Compare  Rom.  iv.  16  ;  xi.  26  ;  with  Gal.  iv.  3  ;  2  Cor.  iii.  6  ;  1  Thess.  iv. 
14-16. 

-  "Latin  Christianity  was  born  in  Africa,  not  in  Italy,  and  its  first  eminent 
WTiter  was  Tertnllian." — Fraser.  Even  in  writing  to  Rome,  St.  Panl  classifies 
mankind  as  "Greeks  and  barbarians  "  (i.  14),  and  "Jews  and  Greeks  "  (i.  16, 
ii.  9  &c.)  "The  Churches  of  the  west,"  says  Milnian,  "were  Greek  religious 
colonies.  Their  language  was  Greek,  their  organisation  Greek,  their  orders 
Greek." 


272  The  Epistles. 

noMANs.  and  of  liis  missionary  labours.  The  letter  itself  shows  that 
this  is  at  the  best  an  exceedingly  partial  view  of  the  Apostle's 
aim  in  writing  it.  According  to  Baur  and  others  it  is 
polemical,  and  intended  to  counteract  anti-Pauline  tendencies 
among  the  Jewish  Christians.  This  view  again  is  too  purely 
historical.  It  regards  chapters  ix.-xi.  as  the  pith  and  kernel 
of  the  whole  letter ;  and  the  whole  dogmatic  treatment  of 
the  Epistle  as  meant  to  be  "  nothing  but  the  most  radical 
and  thoroughgoing  refutation  of  Judaism  and  Jewish 
Christianity." 

The  true  view  perhaps  is  that  the  Apostle,  after  the  estab- 
lishment of  his  authority  at  Corinth,  began  to  look  westwards, 
and  used  an  interval  of  unwonted  calm  to  prepare  the  way 
for  his  missionary  labours  at  Rome.  His  thoughts  were  still 
occupied  with  the  tniths  of  Christian  freedom  and  the 
universality  of  the  Gospel,  which  he  had  maintained  against 
the  Judaisers  of  Galatia,  and  he  wished  to  prove  that  Christ 
was  the  Messiah  of  the  Gentiles  no  less  than  of  the  Jews. 
The  Gentiles  were  pressing  far  more  eagerly  than  the  Jews 
into  the  Church  of  Christ  (ix.  1 ;  x.  3).  Was  God  then 
rejecting  Israel  ?  His  answer  to  that  solemn  question  was, 
(1)  that  spiritual  worshijD  does  not  depend  on  natural  descent, 
and  that  justification  by  faith  is  equally  open  to  the  Gentile 
and  the  Jew  (ix.) ;  that  (2)  the  Jews  are  not  the  rejected  but 
the  rejectors  (x.) ;  but  that  (3)  the  rejection  is  (a)  only  partial, 
not  absolute ;  and  (yS)  only  temporary,  not  final  (xi.). 

But  if  these  were  the  thoughts  with  which  perhaps  the 

Apostle  started,^  he  worked  backwards  from  them  to  thoughts 

to  which  he  here  first  gives  full  and  formal  expression.     He 

passes  from  the  relative  to  the  absolute ;  from  the  abolition  of 

exclusive  privileges   to  God's   plan   for  universal   salvation. 

That  plan  is  "  Justification  by  Faith."     In  order  to  prove  it 

1  This  view  was  first  suggested  by  Baur  (Pauluf,  i.  310),  and  though  it  has 
hecn  keenly  criticised  by  Schott  and  otliers  still  seems  to  me  inherently 
])robab]e.  Baur  and  Volkniar,  however,  adopt  too  exclusively  the  view  tliat 
it  was  mainly  addressed  to  Jewish  Christians  (see  i.  13).  The  ascetics  alluded 
to  in  xiv.  2-21  seem  to  have  shared  the  views  of  the  Therai)eutie  (I'hilo,  I'it. 
Conlcmp.  iv.). 


Idea  of  the  Epistle.  273 

St.  Paul  has  to  show  that  neither  Jew  nor  Gentile  can  attain 
salvation  by  any  law  of  works,  and  that  Christ  is  the  only 
common  foundation,  the  bond  of  all  human  society,  the  root 
of  all  human  righteousness.  The  thought  which  runs  through 
the  whole  Epistle  is  the  universality  of  sin,  and  the  universaUty 
of  grace. 

Its  four  main  positions  are : 

1.  All  are  guilty  before  God. 

2.  All  need  a  Saviour. 

3.  Christ  died  for  all. 

4.  We  are  all  one  body  in  Him.^ 

The  fundamental  theme  of  the  Epistle  is  in  i,  16,  17.  We 
are  there  told  that  the  Gospel  is  a  progressive  manifestation 
to  the  world  that  God's  inherent  righteousness  may  become 
man's  justification.  By  accepting  the  reconciliation  to  God 
offered  to  us  by  the  death  of  Christ  man  may  attain  salvation. 
His  trustful  acceptance  of  Christ  passes  into  mystic  union  with 
Christ,  and  this  is  life.  Justification  becomes  sanctification ; 
faith  passes  into  faithfulness  ;  and  this  is  an  earnest  of  future 
glory. 

Thus  the  Epistle  to  the  Eomans  is  St.  Paul's  Homily  of  the 
Salvation  of  Mankind. 

Some  leading  words  in  the  Epistle  : 

"  All "  (rra?).  Free  Salvation  offered  to  all,  because  needed 
byaU. 

Imputing  {Xoyi^ofiai).  The  word  occurs  ten  times  in  the 
fourth  chapter  alone. 

Mighteousness,  AiKaioavvT)  (Sikuloco,  Bi/caiMfia,  SIktj).  God's 
inherent  righteousness  becoming  man's  justification;  the 
new  relation  of  reconcilement  between  God  and  man.  The 
righteousness  of  God,  not  the  righteousness  of  the  law. 

God  forbid  !  {fxr]  jivoLTo).  The  horror  naturalis  which  re- 
jects false  inferences  from  accepted  theses  (ten  times,  iii.  4,  6, 
81 ;  vi.  2,  15  ;  vii.  7,  13  ;  ix.  14;  xi.  1,  11.  Elsewhere  only  in 
1  Cor.  vi.  11,  Gal.  ii.  17,  iii.  21). 

1  Bishop  Wordsworth,  Epullcs,  p.  200. 

T 


274  The  Epistles. 

Leading  thought  : 

"  The  just  shall  live  by  faith." 

The  verse  has  already  been  quoted  by  St.  Paul  in  Gal.  iii.  11. 
In  the  LXX.  it  is  "  the  just  shall  live  by  my  faith  "  (e/c  Trt'o-Tew? 
fiov)  in  some  MSS.  In  its  original  context,  the  verse  meant 
"tlie  just  man  shall  live  {I.e.  shall  be  delivered  from  peril)  by 
his  fidelity ;  "  but  St.  Paul  reads  a  deeper  meaning  into  "  faith  " 
and  "  live."      Habakkuk  ends  where  Paul  begins. 

The  religious  history  of  man  may  be  regarded  objectively 
and  historically  under  four  phases : 

1.  The  Sin  of  Adam.  2.  The  Promise  to  Abraham.  3.  The 
Law  of  Moses.     4.  The  Redemption  of  Christ. 

And  subjectively  and  individually  in  four  phases  : 

1.  Relative  innocence.  2.  Awakened  consciousness. 
S.  Imputable  transgression.     4.  Free  justification. 


EPISTLE  TO  THE  ROMANS. 

'•'Hew  then  can  man  be  justified  with  God  ?" — Job  xxv.  4. 
"  The  just  shall  live  by  faith."— Hab.  ii.  4,  and  KoM.  i.  17  ;  Gal.  iii.  11  ; 
Heb.  X.  38. 

1.  This  text  of  Job  asks  a  question  to  which  in  those 
memorable  six  words  which  occur  in  four  places  of  Scripture 
the  Prophet  and  the  Apostles  furnish  the  answer. 

St.  Paul's  visit  to  Corinth  seems  to  have  been  so  far 
successful  that  he  triumphantly  re-established  that  apostolic 
authority  which  had  been  so  rudely  impugned.  Towards  the 
close  of  his  few  months  in  this  city,  having  cowed  by  his 
presence  a  factious  opposition,  he  seems  to  have  enjoyed  one  of 
those  brief  but  bright  interspaces  of  repose  and  calm  which 
occur  in  even  the  must  troubled  life.     It  was  at  Corinth  that 


St.  Paul's  GosjmL  275 

he  had  received  the  news  from  Galatia  which  called  forth  the 
burning  letter  to  the  waverers  of  that  unstable  Church  ;  and 
his  mind  naturally  continued  to  work  on  the  great  problems 
of  the  relation  of  the  Law  to  the  Gospel,  of  Judaism  to 
Christianity,  of  faith  to  works,  on  which  he  had  been  forced 
to  speak.  His  thoughts  were  now  turned  to  Rome,  because, 
after  one  more  visit  to  Jerusalem,  he  meant  to  stop  at  the 
Imperial  City  on  his  way  to  Sj)ain.  It  was  only  too  probable 
that  the  Roman  Christians  would  have  heard  ftilse  or  distorted 
views  of  him  and  of  his  teaching,  and  he  was  therefore 
anxious,  before  visiting  them  in  person,  to  let  them  know 
what  his  teaching  really  was.  But  he  was  able  to  tell  them 
this  calmly  and  fully  as  a  great  logical  whole.  There  was  no 
need  for  the  fiery  outbursts  of  indignation  which  had  marked 
his  Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  for  he  was  writing  to  a  stranger 
Church,  in  which  he  was  not  called  upon  to  deal  with  special 
opponents.  Hence  it  was  evidently  in  a  peaceful  mood  that 
he  dictated  to  Tertius  this  inestimable  treatise  of  Christian 
theology.^  In  this  Epistle,  more  systematically  than  in  any 
other,  he  gives  a  lucid  and  closely-reasoned  statement  of  what 
he  calls  "  his  Gospel " :  ^  the  special  aspect  of  that  mystery 
which  he  was  commissioned  to  reveal.  More  fully,  therefore, 
and  less  polemically  than  in  the  Ej^istle  to  the  Galatians  he 
here  invites  an  ideal  reader  to  follow  him  in  the  discussion 
of  great  abstract  truths,  and  those  truths  are  nothing  less 
than  what  maj^  be  called  the  philosophy  of  the  plan  of  salva- 
tion. Phoebe,  the  humble  deaconess  of  Cenchrea,  when  she 
conveyed  this  letter  to  Rome  or  to  Ephesus,  was  carrying  under 
the  folds  of  her  robe,  "  the  whole  future  of  Christian  theology." 
Such  a  statement  of  his  teaching  by  the  Apostle  himself  was 
sujiremely  necessary.  Both  his  social  position  in  the  Church 
and  his  theological  views  were  greatly  open  to  attack.  He 
was  not  one  of  the  Twelve.     He  had  never  been  a  personal 

1  The  date  of  the  Epistle,  written  from  Corinth  a  little  before  Easter,  a.d. 
58,  appears  by  comparing  Acts  xix.  21 ;  xx.  3,  6,  16,  with  Rom.  xv.  25-28  or 
1  Cor.  xvi.  1-5,  2  Cor.  viii.  1-4. 

2  Rom.  ii.  10  ;  xvi.  25  ;  Gal.  ii.  2  ;  1  Cor.  xv.  1. 

T    2 


276  The  Einstha. 

disciple  of  Christ.  He  was  looked  on,  if  not  with  suspicion 
yet  without  cordiality,  by  many  prominent  members  of  the 
mother  Church  in  Jerusalem.  Unfavourable  remarks  about 
his  aims  and  his  character  were  freely  disseminated.  Hence 
in  the  Epistles  to  the  Tliessalonians  and  Corinthians  he  had 
been  compelled  to  vindicate  his  character,  and  in  that  to  the 
Galatians  to  establish  his  independent  authority.  This  was 
the  easier  part  of  his  task,  and  it  had  been  already  accom- 
plished. To  those  who  had  any  further  doubts  on  the  subject 
it  was  sufficient  to  reply  that  his  Apostolic  rank  and  mission 
had  in  the  synod  at  Jerusalem  been  fully  acknowledged  by 
the  Twelve  themselves.  It  was  far  more  difficult  to  establish 
dialectically  the  theological  ojoinions  at  wdiich  he  had  himself 
arrived  by  processes  quite  different.  Our  Lord  had  not 
openly  abrogated  the  Law.  Nay,  more,  some  of  His  deep 
sayings  were  quoted  to  maintain  its  eternal  validity.  St. 
Paul  appealed  to  visions  and  revelations,  but  his  ojiponents 
asserted  that  these  could  only  be  dubious;  or,  at  the  best, 
that  they  could  only  serve  to  ratify  his  convictions  for  him- 
self individually.  Both  St.  Paul  and  his  opponents  appealed 
to  the  Old  Testament ;  but  the  letter  of  the  Pentateuch 
seemed  to  be  indisputably  in  favour  of  the  literalists, 
and  his  attempt  to  read  new  and  opposite  meanings  into 
the  old  revelations  appeared  to  all  bigoted  Judaists  as  so 
much  sophistry.  They  looked  upon  it  as  "  the  most  bare- 
faced denial  of  the  Divine  Word  in  the  Old  Testament,  which 
only  in  mockery  could  parade  itself  as  a  deeper  under- 
standing of  that  Divine  Word  itself."  ^  To  them  he  appeared 
as  "  one  who  did  not  believe  in  the  Bible,"  and  "  flew  in  the 
face  of  inspired  authority." 

Further  than  this,  the  old  narrow  traditional  school  sincerely 
regarded  St.  Paul's  "innovations"  as  being  morally  dangerous, 
and  that  in  a  high  degree.  To  them  he  seemed  to  be 
throwing  down  all  religious  barriers  and  opening  the  door  to 
untinomianism.  Their  moral  sense  was  utterly  shocked  by 
*  Trof.  Lipsius,  Proleslaiitcnbibd, 


Justification  hy  Faith.  277 

the  notion  that  their  divine  and  cherished  law  was  only 
given  "to  multij)ly  transgressions."  They  looked  on  St.  Paul's 
teaching  as  nothing  short  of  scandalous. 

And  yet,  because  he  loved  them,  because  the  letter  killeth 
and  the  spirit  quickeneth,  because  his  heart  was  full  of 
courage,  and  his  soul  of  spiritual  illumination,  he  was  able  in 
the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  to  develop  his  peculiar  Gospel 
with  such  power  as  to  get  rid  of  all  objections  and  to  carry 
with  him  the  grateful  assent  and  conviction  of  the  universal 
C]  lurch. 

2.  In  the  few  words  of  introduction  I  have  touched  on  the 
origin  of  Christianity  in  Rome,  on  the  share  which  St.  Peter 
may  or  may  not  have  had  in  preaching  it,  and  on  the  question 
whether  the  Church  was  predominantly  Jewish  or  Gentile. 
We  will  now  take  the  Epistle  as  it  is,  and  try  to  grasp  its 
central  idea.  We  have  already  seen  that  critics  differ  as  to  its 
main  purpose ;  but  whatever  else  it  may  be,  it  is  unquestionably 
the  clearest  and  fullest  statement  of  the  doctrine  of  sin  and  the 
doctrine  of  deliverance  as  held  by  the  greatest  of  the  Apostles. 
It  is  St.  Paul's  definition  of  what  he  understood  as  the  Gospel 
of  Christ.  At  the  time  when  St.  Paul  wrote  it  he  could  not 
fail  to  see  the  to  him  painful  and  perplexing  fact  that  the 
Gentiles  were  pressing  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven  and  taking 
it  by  storm,  and  that  consequently  the  inheritance  of  the  vine- 
yard was  being  taken  from  its  ancient  husbandmen.  As  he  was 
writing  to  a  mixed  Church,  this  problem — which  occupies  the 
ninth,  tenth,  and  eleventh  chapters — was  probably  the  earliest 
in  St.  Paul's  thoughts  ;  but  from  it  he  passed  to  the  con- 
sideration of  wider  truths,  which  made  it  sink  into  a  sub- 
ordinate position.  For  it  led  him  at  once  to  the  thought 
that  spiritual  sonship  depends  in  no  wise  on  natural  descent, 
and  that  the  only  justification  possible  to  man  is  justification  by 
faith.  In  that  one  formula,  so  often  abused  into  a  mere  badge 
of  Protestantism,  and  so  often  entirely  misunderstood,  may  be 
summed  up  the  chief  thesis  of  the  letter.  But  the  word 
"faith"  in  that  memorable  formula  does  not  mean  what  it  i.s 


278  The  Epistles. 

popularly  taken  to  mean.  It  does  not  mean  a  mere  expression 
of  belief;  it  does  not  even  mean  an  actual  belief;  still  less 
does  it  mean  any  body  of  doctrines ;  least  of  all  does  it 
mean  something  opposed  to  reason — the  abnegation  of  all 
inquiry — the  smiting  back  the  understanding,  as  with  a 
bar  of  iron,  in  order  to  coerce  it,  in  spite  of  itself,  into 
the  acceptance  of  a  series  of  dogmatic  propositions.  "  Faith  " 
was  used  by  St.  Paul  in  a  sense  absolutely  original. 
What  he  meant  by  it  in  its  full  and  ultimate  signifi- 
cance was  nothing  less  than  that  oneness  with  Christ, 
that  death  with  Him  unto  sin  and  that  life  with  Him 
unto  righteousness,  which  are  its  final  result  and  richest 
flower.  One  of  the  key-notes,  then,  of  the  letter  is  the  word 
"  all."  He  wishes  to  show  that  the  universality  of  sin  is 
counterbalanced  by  the  universality  of  grace.  And  thus  in 
this  Epistle,  as  in  every  other,  the  real  basis  is  not  a  forensic 
theory,  not  a  metaphysical  exj)ression,  but  "  Christ  as  tlie 
common  foundation  on  which  Jew  and  Gentile  can  stand,  the 
bond  of  human  society,  the  root  of  human  righteousness." 
And  St.  Paul's  idea  of  faith,  in  the  highest  of  his  ascensive 
uses  of  it,  is  best  found  in  Galatians  iii.  20.  "  I  am  crucified 
with  Christ,  nevertheless  I  live  ;  yet  not  I,  but  Christ  liveth 
in  me  ;  and  the  life  which  I  now  live  in  the  flesh  I  live  by 
the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God  who  loved  me,  and  gave  Himself 
for  me." 

3.  It  is  of  course  impossible  to  give  in  a  few  words  an 
exhaustive  sketch  of  a  letter  which  deals  with  not  a  few  of 
the  vastest  problems  which  have  ever  occupied  the  mind  of 
man.  A  perfect  library  of  theology  has  been  written  to 
expound  this  letter.  Sects  have  argued,  and  controversies 
have  raged  about  it  from  century  to  century.  All  that  I 
shall  here  attempt  is  first  to  give  an  outline  of  it,  and  then 
with  the  utmost  brevity  to  set  forth  the  view  which  it  gives 
of  the  Gospel  as  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation, 

4.  The  outline  of  the  letter  is  as  follows.  After  the  full, 
Bolcmn,  and  digressive  greeting  and  thanksgiving  of  the  first 


Outline.  279 

fifteen  verses,  St.  Paul  passes,  in  the  most  natural  manner,  to 
state,  in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  verses,  his  great  theme, 
which  he  sums  up  in  those  words  of  Habakkuk,  "  The  just 
shall  live  by  faith."  Since  the  necessity  of  this  mode  of 
salvation  arises  from  the  universality  of  sin  which  deserves 
God's  wrath,  he  proceeds  to  prove  his  statement  that  all  have 
sinned.  Of  the  sinfulness  of  the  Gentiles  he  gives  a  truly 
fearful  picture  in  the  rest  of  the  first  chapter ;  and  then  (to 
the  twentieth  verse  of  the  third  chapter)  he  enters  on  the 
proof  that  the  Jews  have  sinned  no  less  fatally.^  In  the 
twenty-first  to  the  thirty-first  verse  of  the  third  chapter  he 
once  more  gives  a  condensed,  yet  elaborate  summary  of 
the  Gospel  remedy  for  sin,  viz.  justification  by  free  grace 
through  the  redemption  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus.  Aware 
of  the  extreme  novelty  of  these  conclusions,  he  devotes 
the  fourth  and  fifth  chapters  to  illustrating  them  from 
Scripture  ;  and  to  the  proof  that  the  ruinous  work  of  Adam 
has  been  reversed  by  the  healing  work  of  Christ.  Then  he 
divides  human  history  into  three  epochs — the  state  of 
innocence  or  of  "  unconscious  morality ; "  the  state  of  law ;  and 
the  state  of  grace.^  In  the  sixth  chajjter  he  shows  that,  so  far 
from  encouraging  sin,  the  grace  of  Christ  involves  the 
annihilation  of  sin ;  and  in  the  seventh  and  eighth  chapters 
he  shows  that  the  Law  was  only  meant  to  lead  men  to  the 
Gospel,  and  that  its  deathful  commandments  are  superseded 

^  The  guiltiness  of  heathendom  was  too  patent.  It  required  no  proof. 
Tlie  Pagans  are  condemned  by  tlie  tone  of  all  their  literature,  by  their  poets,  his- 
torians, and  orators  no  less  than  hy  theu-  satirists  and  romancers.  Their 
sins  were  open,  going  before  to  judgment.  "  Omnia  sceleribus  et  vitiis  plena 
sunt,"  says  the  contemporary  Seneca  (Z>e  Ird,  ii.  8)  "  nee  furtiva  jam  scelera 
sunt."  It  was  far  more  necessary  to  show  the  Jews  that  they  were  no  less 
guilty,  though  their  guilt  was  of  a  different  kind.  It  was  specially  im- 
portant to  show  them  that  their  privileges,  so  far  from  saving  them,  might 
only  tend  to  aggravate  thdr  condemnation.  The  Eabbis  can  hardly  persuade 
themselves  that  any  circumcised  son  of  Abraham  can  ever  perish  (Yevamoth 
f.  47,  2  ;  Avoda  Zara,  f.  3,  col.  1-3).  And  yet  that  generation  of  Jews  was  so 
bad  that,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Jewish  historian,  earthquake  and  lightning 
must  have  destroyed  tliem  if  the  Romans  had  not  done  so  (Jos.  B.  G.  iv.  3  ; 
V,  9  §  4  ;  X.  §  5  ;  xiii.  §  G). 

2  See  the  Introductory  Note,  and  an  interesting  excursus  (F.)  "on  St.  Paul's 
view  of  the  Religious  History  of  Mankind,''  byDr,  Sanday,  in  Bishop  Ellicott's 
Commentary,  ii.  278. 


280  The  Ephtks. 

ROMANS,  for  the  believer,  by  the  Spirit  of  God  quickening  the  heart  of 
nian.^  This  naturally  leads  him  to  a  serious  appeal  to  his 
readers  to  live  worthily  of  their  changed  nature,  an  appeal 
■which,  at  the  close  of  the  eighth  chapter  becomes  a  mag- 
nificent outburst  of  gratitude,  rising  at  last  into  a  climax  of 
impassioned  praise. 

Then  in  the  ninth,  tenth,  and  eleventh  chapters — which 

are  in  one  sense  an  episode,  but  probably  contain  the  thoughts 

'^^         which   suggested    the    whole    Epistle — he    deals    with   the 

apparent  rejection  of  Israel,  and  faces  the  great  problems  of 

predestination  and  free  will.^ 

The  next  four  chapters  deal  with  the  practical  consequences 
of  this  Gosjoel — the  duties  of  self- dedication,  humility,  unity, 
hope,  love,  subordination  to   human  authority,  toleration  of 

^  Conciliatory  as  is  the  tono  of  St.  Paul,  he  here  uses  tlie  startling  ex- 
pression that  the  Law  "  came  in"  {'napei<Ti]\Biv,\\i\^.  suhintravit,  "  super- 
vened "Gal.  iii.  10,  7rpo(j-€T607j)  "tliat  the  trespass  might  abound,"  i.e.  to 
C6ACv«-tt.  ■  _ijm]^(ijily  transgressions,  wliich  in  Gal.  iii.  19,  he  liad  more  obscurely  expres.sed 
^  by  "ior  the  sake  of  transgressions"  (■Kapa^iaeoov  X'^P"')-  He  justifies  his 
position  by  a  deep  psychological  analysis  showing  that  the  Law  stimulates  the 
impulse  to  sin  (nitimur  in  vctitnvi  semper)  and  intensifies  the  subsequent 
remorse  ;  but  that  it  only  docs  this  with  the  merciful  purpose  of  bringing  sin  to 
a  head  and  so  of  curing  it.  Thus  the  use  of  the  law  is,  as  the  Eeformers  said, 
1.  Civil.  2.  Educational.  3.  Formative.  Augebatur  morbus ;  crescit 
malitia;  q^uaeritur  medicus,  et  totum  sanatur." — Aug.  in  Ps.  cii. 

"And  therefore  Law  V'os  given  them  to  evince 

Their  natural  pravity  by  stirring  up 

Sin  against  law  to  fight ;  that  when  they  see 

Law  can  discover  sin  but  not  remove, 

Save  by  those  shadowy  expiations  weak 

Tiie  blood  of  bulls  and  goats,  they  may  conclude 

Some  blood  more  precious  must  be  paid  for  man. 

Milton,  Paradise  Lost,  xii.  2S5. 

Into  these  lines  !Milton  has  compressed  something  of  the  main  conception,  both 
of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  and  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews. 

2  To  the  difficulty  about  the  rejection  of  Israel  St.  Paul  furnishes  two 
answers. 

1.  A  theologic  answer: — God  predestinates. 

2.  An  liistoric  answer : — the  rejection  of  the  Jews  was  due  to  their  own 
obstinacy. 

He  does  not  attempt  to  reconcile  the  antinomy  because  it  is  irreconcilable. 
He  would  have  said  with  R.  Akiva,  "  Everything  is  foreseen  and  free  will  is 
given.  And  the  world  is  judged  by  grace  and  everything  is  according  to 
works"  {Pirkc  Avoth.  iii.  21).  He  was  not  oppressed  by  the  problem  of  God's 
foreknowledge  because  (1)  He  believed  absolutely  in  God's  infinite  love;  nnd 

<?  (2)  He  apparently  looked  forward  to  the  redemption  of  the  Universe  and  of 

'  the  race  (Pom.  viii.  19-24  ;  xi.  32  ;  1  Tim.  ii.  3-6). 


Fundamental  Theme.  281 

scruples,  strict  conscientiousness,  and  generally  the  imitation 
of  Christ.  He  closes  the  Epistle  with  personal  messages,  with 
twenty-six  greetings,  and  with  a  splendid  doxology  in  which, 
in  a  form  almost  resembling  the  antiphons  of  a  liturgy,  he 
once  more  repeats  the  revealed  mystery  of  his  Gospel,  the 
deliverance  of  man  by  obedience  and  faith  in  Christ. 

5.  The  grand  fundamental  theme  of  the  Epistle  is  given  in 
i.  16,  17.  "For  I  am  not  ashamed  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ, 
for  it  is  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  to  every  one  that 
believeth,  to  the  Jew  first  and  also  to  the  Greek.  For  in  it 
the  righteousness  of  God  is  being  revealed  from  faith  to  faith, 
even  as  it  is  written,  But  the  righteous  shall  live  by  faith ; 
for  the  wrath  of  God  is  being  revealed  from  heaven  against 
all  impiety  and  unrighteousness  of  men  who  suppress  the 
truth  in  unrighteousness,"  The  great  central  truth  of  our 
religion,  thus  stated,  is  much  more  than  a  mere  "  doctrine  of 
sin,"  a  mere  "theory  of  imputation,"  a  mere  watchword  of 
party.  It  is,  on  the  contrary,  a  practical  truth  of  momentous 
importance.  On  the  one  side  we  have  man,  on  the  other 
God;  on  the  one  side  man's  guilt,  on  the  other  that  consequent 
suffering,  that  retributive  loss,  that  profound  alienation  of 
man  from  his  Maker,  which  works,  and  can  only  be 
described,  as  "  the  wrath  of  God."  That  wrath  is  being 
revealed  from  heaven  day  by  day  in  the  deep  misery  and 
anguish  of  mankind  wrought  by  the  Nemesis  of  violated 
laws.  God  is  righteous  and  man  is  guilty  :  how  then  is  the 
gulf  between  righteousness  and  guilt  to  be  bridged  over? 
"Without  holiness  we  know,  we  feel,  our  consciences  tell  us, 
that  we  shall  never  see  God,  Shall  we  then  never  see  Him  ? 
Can  God  bring  a  clean  thing  out  of  an  unclean  ?  Can  there 
be  any  destiny  before  the  race  of  man  except  lamentation, 
and  mourning,  and  woe  ?  Clearly  there  can  be  no  hope 
unless  God — even  while  we  are  yet  sinners,  yet  disobedient, 
yet  alienated — interferes  on  behalf  of  the  wretched  and 
fallen  race.  Does  God  interfere,  and  how  ?  The  Gospel  is 
the  answer  to  that  question.     If  the  Gospel  answer  be  not  the 


282  The  Epistles. 

true  answer,  tlien  there  is  none.  And  St.  Paul  gives  the 
answer  by  saying  that  if  there  be  a  revelation  of  wrath,  there 
is  also  a  revelation  of  righteousness ;  that  the  righteousness 
of  God  towards  the  sinner  is  being  revealed  by  the  pure 
steady  light  of  the  Gospel,  no  less  clearly  than  the  wrath  of 
God  towards  sin  is  being  revealed  by  the  lurid  blaze  of 
j>unishment.  The  word  for  righteousness  and  for  justification 
is  one  and  the  same  word,  because  God  has  provided  the 
means  whereby  His  righteousness  can  become  our  justification; 
whereby  He  can  so  impart  to  us  His  righteousness  that  it 
becomes  ours ;  whereby  the  guilty  can  be  not  only  forgiven 
but  sanctified,  and  the  quality  of  a  Holy  God  become  the 
condition  of  guilty  man. 

6.  How  can  this  be  ? 

I  am  painfully  aware  that  the  mere  statement  of  these 
truths  will  seem  dry  and  abstract.  This  will  cease  to  be  the 
case  if  we  bring  the  question  home  to  ourselves  by  putting 
it  into  the  concrete.  Let  us  take  a  single  case,  A  man  is 
guilty;  he  is  tied  and  bound  by  the  chain  of  some  sin,  perhaps 
of  many  sins ;  he  is  absorbed  by  avarice ;  he  is  goaded  by 
ambition ;  he  is  the  victim  of  passion.  He  wants  indeed  to 
be  pardoned,  but  he  wants  also  (and  this  is  imjjossible)  to 
retain  the  offence.  He  knows,  until  his  soul  has  become 
utterly  callous,  and  bis  conscience  utterly  seared,  he  knows, 
and  it  is  his  daily  misery  to  know,  that  he  is  not  at  one 
with  himself,  because  his  lower  nature  has  gained  the 
disastrous  victory  over  his  better  nature.  In  a  word, 
he  is  not  at  one  with  God,  because,  while  he  is  impure, 
and  false,  and  evil,  God  is  holy,  just,  and  good.  What  can 
save  him  ?  No  mere  change  of  circumstances,  no  violent 
miracle  of  transformation.  The  change  must  be  in  himself. 
While  his  heart  is  still  connipt  he  desires  to  fly  from  God,  and 
so  long  as  he  is  what  he  is,  his  soul  must  (so  to  speak)  be  left 
in  hell,  because  heaven  itself  would  be  hell  to  him,  and  he 
must  say  with  the  evil  spirit, 

"■\Vlucli  way  I  fly  is  hell,  myself  am  licU." 


Free  Graee.  283 

How  then  is  a  sinful  man  to  attain  to  holiness  ?  how 
is  God's  righteousness  to  become  his  justification  ?  That 
is  the  problem. 

There  is  a  passage  in  one  of  the  noblest  moral  poems  cf 
modern  days — the  Idylls  of  the  King — a  poem  which, 
from  beginning  to  end — is  an  allegory  of  a  conscience  at 
work  among  the  warring  senses — in  which  Arthur's  greatest 
knight,  entangled  in  the  shame  of  a  deadly  sin,  and  finding 
more  bitterly  every  day  that  the  taste  of  sin's  corroded  fruit 
is  like  dust  and  ashes  in  the  mouth,  goes  and  sits  alone, 
beside  a  little  brook  that  runs  into  a  river ;  and  as  he  watches 
the  high  reed  wave,  he  cries  in  the  deejD  anguish  of  moral 
despair — 

"  '  Jline  own  namo  shames  me,  seeming  a  reproach. 
For  what  am  1  ?  what  profits  me  my  name, 
To  make  men  worse  by  making  my  sin  known, 
Or  sin  seem  less,  the  sinner  seeming  great. 
Alas  !  for  Arthur's  greatest  knight,  a  man 
Not  after  Arthur's  heart !     I  needs  must  break 

These  bonds  that  so  defame  me 

but  if  I  would  not,  then  may  God 

1  pray  Him,  send  a  sudden  Angel  down 
To  seize  me  by  the  hair,  and  bear  me  far, 
And  fling  me  deep  in  that  forgotten  mere 
Among  the  tumbled  fragments  of  the  hills.' 
So  groaned  Sir  Launeelot  in  remorseful  pain, 
Not  knowing  he  should  die  a  holy  man." 

But  there  is  the  awful  question,  How  shall  a  guilty  become 
a  holy  man  ? 

The  answer  is — partly  by  the  free  grace  of  God,  partly  by 
the  free  will  of  man. 

i.  Partly,  I  say,  by  the  free  grace  of  God.  That  free  grace 
of  God  was  manifested  once  and  for  all  in  the  death  of  Christ. 
This  element  in  the  plan  of  salvation  you  will  see  more  fully 
in  the  twenty-fifth  and  twenty-sixth  verses  of  that  third 
chapter,  which  have  been  called  by  Olshausen  "  the  Acro- 
polis of  the  Christian  faith,"  There  you  will  read  that  God 
has  provided  a  way  whereby  all  may  attain  to  the  glory  of 
God,  "being  justified  freely  by  His  grace,  by  means  of  the 
redemption  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus,  whom  God  set  forth  as  a 


284  The  Epistles. 

oMAxs.  propitiation  by  means  of  faith  Ly  His  blood  to  sbow  His  right- 
eousness, because  of  the  praetermission  of  former  sins  in  the 
forbearance  of  God ;  .  .  .  .  that  He  might  Himself  be 
righteous,  and  the  justifier  of  him  whose  life  springs  from 
faith  in  Jesus."  ^ 

Here  then  is  the  history  of  salvation  on  the  part  of  God, 
Guilty  as  we  are,  utterly  as  we  deserved  punishment,  God 
sent  His  Son  to  live  for  us,  to  die  for  us,  to  save  us ;  and  by 
the  death  of  Christ,  God,  viewing  our  whole  race  as  redeemed 
in  Him,  pronounced  a  judgment  of  acquittal  upon  all  who 
(consciously  orjipconscimisly)  are  found  in  Him.  This  is  the 
divine  paradox  by  which  God  can  both  condemn  and  pardon. 
In  the  Law  God  is  just  and  condemns  ;  ^  in  the  Gospel  He  is 

^  The  elements  of  this  great  statement  are  as  follows  : 

1.  Justification. — The  Eighteousness  of  God  imputed  to  man  (^iKawavvn). 

2.  Faith: — (a)  man's  belief;  rising  (/3)  to  self- surrender  ;  (7)  to  mystic 
tinion  with  Christ,  which  becomes  in  man  (5)  the  spirit  of  a  new  life. 

3.  This  plan  of  salvation  offered  to  all  ;  [eis  Ttivras  koX  eTri  -navTas  roi/s 
iTiffTevovras). 

4.  It  has  been  finished  and  made  known  (ire^are'p&jToj)  in  accordance  with 
continuous  testimony  (jxaprvpovixivri). 

5.  This  grace,  a  free  gift  not  earned  by  man  (xi^P's  vo^ov),  nor  to  be  earned 
(Swpe'ai/). 

6.  The  object  of  this  faith, — Jesus  Christ,  His  life  and  death  ;  which  is  a 
ransoming  (aTroAvrpctxru)  and  a  propitiation  [IXain-hpiov)  as  regards  its  results 
for  man.     (The  word  l\affTr)piov  seems  here  to  be  used  in  the  sense  of  i\a(Tfx6s.) 

7.  The  reason  for  this, — the  vindication  of  God's  righteousness  which 
might  otherwise  have  been  questioned  because  of  His  praetermission  (irapecriv) 
of  previous  sins. 

8.  The  end  to  be  obtained— that  God  might  justify  every  man  whose  new 
life  has  its  root  {4k)  in  faith  in  Christ. 

Thus  the  Gospel — what  the  Apostle  called  specifically  his  Gospel  (Rom.  ii. 
16  ;  xvi.  25  ;  Gal.  i.  7,  ii.  2  ;  2  Tim.  ii.  8) — is  grounded  on  the  grace  of  God 
(xapis)  ;  the  Redemption  in  Christ  (airo\riTpai(Tis)  ;  and  the  faith  of  man 
{wiffTis). 

St.  Paul  expresses  the  conclusion  in  verse  28.  "  We  reckon  therefore 
that  a  man  is  justified  by  faith,  apart  from  works  of  Law."  This  is  the  verse 
into  which  Luther,  by  inference  (but  unwarrantably)  admitted  from  the  Genoese 
and  Nuremberg  Bibles  the  word  "alone,"  "by  faith  only"  {vox  sola  tot 
n  ,  elainorihus  lapidafa,  Kra.sm.)  Hence  the  name  Soh'difnn.  Luther  was  not 
'1  guilty  of  the  foolish  error  that  "faith"  ((r/«ii&c)  ml'ans  merely  "belief,"  Glauhe 

^t^jUu-  implies  not  merely  belief  but  tiniM.  Knowing  that  in  St.  Paul,  "  faith  "  ulti- 
mately means  "union  with  Christ"  (Phil.  i.  21  ;  Gal.  ii.  20),  Luther  knew 
that  faith  of  necessity  included  works. 

The  word  iKaaT7)piov  is  always  used  by  the  LXX.  for  cappordJt,  the  "  mercy- 
seat"  or  "propitiatory  ;"  and  though  Fritzsche  says  "  Valcat  ahsurda  expli- 
catio,"  it  cannot  be  regarded  as  certain  that  that  meaning  of  the  word  is  not 
here  applied  to  Christ  by  a  metaphor. 

2  Bengel. 


The  Theodicy.  285 

just  and  pardons.  The  fact  that  His  judicial  righteousness 
both  condemns  and  pardons  is  "  the  divine  theodicy  for  the 
past  history  of  the  world."  ^  This  is  all  that  we  know  or  can 
know  (and  that  only  by  most  imperfect  metaphor)  of  the 
nature  of  the  redemptive  act  as  regards  God.  We  know  no 
more  because  we.  need  to  know  no  more.  But  this  we  know, 
that  if  we  are  in  Christ,  "  such  we  are  in  the  sight  of  God 
the  Father,  as  is  the  very  Son  of  God  Himself  Let  it  be 
counted  folly,  or  fury,  or  frenzy,  or  whatsoever.  It  is  our 
wisdom  and  our  comfort :  we  care  for  no  knowledge  in  the 
world  but  this,  that  God  hath  made  Himself  the  sin  of  men, 
and  that  men  are  made  the  righteousness  of  God."  ^ 

ii.  But  though  God  has  thus  provided  the  remedy,  man 
must  apply  it ;  and  if  we  ask  how,  Scrij^ture  has  but  one 
answer,  "  by  faith."  The  salvation  is  freely  given,  it  is  freely 
given  to  all ;  but  if  man  reject  it,  then,  so  long  as  he  rejects 
it,  it  is  rendered  vain.  God  saves  the  sinner,  but  he  cannot 
save  the  sin ;  nor  can  He  save  the  sinner  so  long  as  he 
continues  in  the  wilful,  willing,  defiant,  disbelieving  choice 
of  sin.  The  whole  education  of  life  is  an  education  meant  to 
make  us  give  up  sin.  All  life  is  meant  to  teach  us,  even  if  it 
be  by  the  desperate  teaching  of  evil  and  its  consequences 
that  good  is  best.  By  early  training,  by  inward  calls,  by  the 
voices  of  father  and  mother,  by  the  worship  of  His  Church, 
by  His  Scriptures,  by  His  sacraments,  by  the  teaching  of  His 
ministers,  by  the  exjieriences  of  life,  by  falls  and  recoveries,  by 
sternness  and  by  tender  mercy,  by  bereavements,  by  sick- 
nesses, by  disappointments,  by  mental  distress,  by  physical 
pain,  by  loneliness,  by  shame,  and  by  success ;  by  thwarting 
us,  and  by  letting  us  have  our  own  way ;  by  not  letting  us 
have  the  good  things  of  earth  while  we  thanklessly  and  fruit- 
lessly weary  ourselves  as  in  the  very  fire  to  win  them,  or  by 
letting  us  have  them  and  feel  bitter  with  weariness  and  sick 
with  sin,  even  while  we  possess  them ;  by  the  shattering  blow 
of  the  lightning  of  punishment,  and  by  the  golden  brooding 
1  Tholuck.  -  Hooker,  Scrm.  ii.  6. 


286  The  Epistles. 

of  the  dove  of  peace,  He  designs,  from  the  first  moment  that 
the  soul  goes  astray,  to  wean  us  from  the  fatal  fascination  and 
deadly  slavery  of  sin,  to  obey  and  trust  in  Him.  Thus  to 
trust  in  Him  is  the  first  step  of  faith.  Faith  is  not  dead 
belief,  but  inspiring  confidence.  And  when  we  have  once 
thus  in  truth  believed  with  the  heart,  tlien  begins,  on  the  side 
of  man  also,  the  history  of  the  salvation  of  the  Christian 
soul.  Belief  becomes  self-surrender ;  self-surrender  becomes 
self-conquest;  self-conquest  rises  into  mystical  incorporation 
with  Christ  in  unity  of  love  and  life,  and  this  passive  union 
soon  passes  into  an  active  force,  the  life  in  Christ,  the  life  not 
in  the  flesh,  but  in  the  Spirit.  And  thus  all  true  faith  is 
inseparable  from  works.  Justification  becomes  sanctification. 
The  law  of  our  human  spirit  becomes  the  law  of  the  spirit  of 
life  in  Jesus  Christ.  The  guilty  man  has  become  a  holy 
man.  The  wicked  man  has  turned  from  his  iniquity  and 
lives.  The  leper  is  cleansed.  The  prodigal  has  come  home. 
The  soul  is  saved.     The  man  is  fit  for  heaven.^ 

7.  The  essence,  then,  of  St.  Paul's  evangelical  theology 
may  be  expressed  far  better  by  the  two  words  "  in  Christ," 
than   even   by  the   formula   "  Justification   by   faith."     The 

^  The  right  understanding  of  the  word  "faith"  in  its  highest  sense  is 
essential  to  the  understanding  of  St.  Paul.  There  are  ascensive  degrees  aud 
qualities  of  faith. 

1.  There  is  dead  faith — faith  which  produces  no  works— Jidcs  informis. 

2.  There  is  "belief,"  theoretic  persuasion  [assensus)  Worn.  iv.  18;  x.  14 
(Heb.  xi.  1). 

3.  There  is  faith  which  has  been  touched  by  emotion  and  has  become  faith- 
fulness by  producing  self-surrender  (Rom.  x.  9),  xii.  3. 

4.  Faith  passes  into  unio  mystica,  incorporation  with  Christ,  Rom.  i.  17  ; 
Phil.  i.  21  ;  Gal.  ii.  20. 

6.  It  passes  from  receptivity  into  spontaneous  activity,  and  becomes  a 
living  impulse  and  power — the  spirit  of  life  (1  Cor.  vi.  17).  Hence,  as 
Luther  says,  "  Faith  is  a  divine  work  in  us,  which  changes  us,  and  creates  us 
anew  in  God." 

It  is  only  in  the  later  Pastoral  Epistles  that  "Faith"  is  used  in  the  modern 
sense  of  "a  body  of  doctrines." 

As  to  the  origin  and  growth  and  object  of  faith, — it  begins  with  hearing 
(Gal.  iii.  2) ;  and  since  Christ  is  the  essence  of  tlie  Gospel  it  becomes  "faith 
in  Christ"  (Gal.  ii.  16  ;  iii.  26).  More  specially  it  is  faith  in  Christ's  blood 
(Rom.  iii.  24-27)  ;  and  growing  more  intense  as  it  nan-ows  from  stage  to 
stage,  it  passes  from  theoretic  assent  to  dominant  conviction  (Baur.  Paul.  ii. 
149  ;  Pfleiderer,  PauUnism,  §  v.  Hooker,  Ecd.  Pol.  1,  xi.  C). 


In  Christ.  287 

former  phrase  occurs  thirty -three  times,  the  latter  phrase  only 
three  or  four  times.  What  then  shall  we  say  to  these  things  ? 
We  might  say  many  things.  We  might  lose  ourselves  in 
endless  perplexities ;  we  might  entangle  ourselves  in  inter- 
minable controversies  ;  we  might,  by  rash  logical  inferences  and 
syllogistic  intrusions  into  the  secret  things  of  God,  injure  and 
harden  our  own  souls;  and,  trying  to  measure  the  arm  of  God 
by  the  finger  of  man,  we  might  lose  ourselves  in  the  mazes  of 
defiance  and  blasphemy.  We  might  take  the  phrase  as  a 
sort  of  test  of  the  heresy  of  others,  instead  of  a  blessed  truth 
intended  for  ourselves.  Let  us  reject  all  such  rash  conclu- 
sions, such  repellent  inferences,  such  uncharitable  presumption ! 
Let  us  put  forth  the  hand  of  faith  to  receive  this  white  robe 
of  God's  righteousness  which  shall  admit  us  into  the  marriage 
supper  of  the  Lamb.  God  loves  us,  sinners  though  we  be. 
Christ  died  to  save  us  from  our  sins.  We  are  not  asked  to 
reason,  but  to  accept  a  loving  Saviour,  and  yield  ourselves  to 
a  loving  will.  If  we  do  this,  then  we  shall  be  able  to  fling 
away  all  foolish  arguments  and  horrible  conclusions  about 
reprobation,  and  predestination,  and  election,  as  St.  Paul 
liimself  does,  with  the  one  energetic  phrase  which  occurs  no 
less  than  ten  times  in  this  single  Epistle,  Perish  the  thought ! 
"God  forbid"!  (^?)  yivoiro).  Whatever  else  the  Epistle 
to  the  Romans  may  be,  it  is  transcendently  an  Ejiistle  of 
hope.  It  is  the  Epistle  which  says  that  where  sin  abounds, 
there  grace  superabounds  ;  that  God  giveth  freely  to  all,  and 
freely  calleth  all ;  that  though  Israel  is  rejected,  yet  all  Israel 
shall  be  saved ;  that  God  shut  up  all  into  disobedience  that 
He  might  pity  all.  Limit  the  "  all "  if  you  will,  and  as  you 
will,  but  the  more  we  trust  God,  the  more  we  shall  hope  in 
Him.  It  was  this  hope  that  inspired  the  bursts  of  rapture 
which  close  the  eighth  and  the  eleventh  chapter.  "  We  are 
more  than  conquerors  through  Christ  that  loved  us.  For  I 
am  convinced  that  neither  death,  nor  life,  nor  angels,  nor 
principalities,  nor  powers,  nor  things  present,  nor  things  to 
come,  shall  be   able   to  separate  us  from  the   love   of  God 


288  The  Epistles. 

manifested  towards  us  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord."  And  "  oh 
the  depth  of  tlie  riches,  and  wisdom,  and  knowledge  of  God  ! 
How  unsearchable  his  judgments,  how  untrackable  his  ways!" 
For  all  things  are  from  Him,  and  all  things  are  by  Him,  and 
all  things  tend  to  Him,  No  man  need  despair,  for  despair  is 
not  only  the  loss  of  hope,  but  also  the  most  perilous  abandon- 
ment of  the  soul  to  faithlessness.  The  Gospel  is  good 
tidings ;  it  is  a  message  of  jDeace  to  all  who  will  receive  it. 
It  tells  us  how  we  may  be  found  in  Christ,  not  having  our 
own  righteousness,  but  that  which  cometh  from  God  by  faith 
in  Christ,  even  the  righteousness  which  begins  with  the  faith 
of  simple  trust  in  God,  and  ends  in  the  faith  of  union  with 
His  Spirit,  and  fulfilment  of  His  will. 


Analysis  of  the  Einstle.  289 


NOTE  I. 

ANALYSIS   OF  THE   EPISTLE. 

Tlie  Epistle  falls  into  two  great  divisions,     i.-xi.  mainly  Doctrinal  ; 
xii.-xvi.  mainly  Practical. 

It  also  falls  into  seven  clear  sections. 

i.-v.  Statement  of  the  doctrine. 

vi.-Yiii.  Answers  to  objections. 

ix.,  xi.  The  question  of  the  rejection  of  Israel. 

xii.,  xiii.  Practical  exhortations. 

xiv.-xv.  13.     Mutual  duties  of  the  strong  and  the  weak. 

XV.  14-33.     Personal. 

xvi.  Salutations. 

The  closer  analysis  of  the  Ejjistle  is  as  follows  : 

1.  Greeting  (i.  1-7).     This  is  the  first  letter  which  St.  Paul  addresses 
to  the  saints,  and  the  first  in  which  he  calls  himself  a  slave  of  Christ. 

2.  Thanksgiving  (i.  8-15). 

3.  Doctrinal  Section. 

A.  Fundamental  thesis  (i.  16,  17). 

i.  All  equally  guilty  (i.  18-iii.  20). 

a.  The  Gentiles  (i.  18-32). 

^.  The  Jews,  in  spite  of  their  privileges  (ii.  1  -iii.  20). 
ii.  All  equally  redeemed  (iii.  21-30).      Justification  by  faith, 
iii.  Illustration  from  the  faith  of  Abraham  (iii.  31- iv.  25). 
iv.  The  nature  and  blessedness  of  the  doctrine  (v.). 

B.  Answers  to  objections. 

i.  Objection  :  that  free  grace  would  multiply  sin  (vi.). 

AnsAver  :  Grace  annihilates  sin. 
ii.  Objection  :  the  doctrine  discredits  the  Law. 

Answer :  the  Law  is  spiritual,  but  we  are  now  dead  to 
the  Law  (vii.  1-6)  which  at  once  provokes  to  sin  (7-12) 
and  gives  the  sting  to  disobedience  (13-24).  But  Christ 
gives  us  the  victory  over  sin  (vii.  25-viii.  11). 

C.  Moral  appeal  founded  on  tlu^se  truths,  and  thanksgivings  for 

them  (viii.  12-35). 

D.  Episode  on  the  rejection  of  Israel  (ix.  x.  xi.). 

i.  St.  Paul's  love  for  Israel  (ix.  1-5). 

ii.  Spiritual  sonship  independent  of  natural  descent  (6-9). 
iii.  God's  free  will  illustrated  in  the  rejection  of  Esau  and 

Pharaoh  (10-18). 
iv.  Yet  God  is  not  unjust,  for  justification  by  faith  is  open  to 
all  (19-33) ;  but  Israel  rejected  God's  righteousness  (x.). 

U 


290  The  Ejjlstles. 

V.  The  rejection  is,  a.  only  partial  not  absolute  (xi.  110)  ; 
^.  Temporary,  not  final,  anil  meant  for  the  blessing  of 
the  Gentiles  (11-32). 
vi.  Burst  of  thanksyiving  (33  36). 

4.  Practical.    (La  foi  justinc  quand  il  opero,  mais  il  n'oporc  que  par 
la  charitd.— QuESNEL.) 

i.  Exhortations  to  holiness,  humility,  unity,  faithfulness, 
hope,  love  (xii.),  obedience  to  civil  authority,  love,  and 
watchfulness  (xiii.). 

ii.  Exhortations  to  mutual  forbearance  between  the  liberal 
and  the  narrow  Christians  (with  retrospective  allusions 
to  the  doctrine  already  established,  xiv.-xv.  13). 

5.  Personal  apology  for  having  thus  addressed  them  (xv,  13-21)  with 
remarks  on  his  future  plans. 

6.  Salutations  (xvi.  1-24)  (15-33), 

7.  Final  Blessing  (2.J-2T). 


NOTE  II. 

ON  THE  INTEGRITY  OF  THE   EPISTLE.^ 

There  is  great  reason  to  doubt  whether  the  last  chapter  was  addressed 
to  the  Roman  Church.  It  has  been  suggested  with  some  probability 
that  it  is  really  an  appendix  to  the  letter  when  it  was  sent  to  the  Church 
of  Ephesus." 

i.  The  urgency  of  the  recomniendation  of  Phoebe  to  a  strange  Church 
three  times  as  distant  from  Coi'iuth  as  Ephesus,  is  hardly  what  we 
should  expect  (Rom.  xvi.  1,  2). 

ii.  It  is  strange  that  St.  Paul  should  salute  twenty-six  people  of  an 
entirely  strange  Church  when  he  only  salutes  one  or  two.  or  none,  in 
Churches  which  he  founded. 

iii.  Aquila  and  Priscilla  were  not  at  Rome  but  at  Ephesus,  a  few- 
months  before  St.  Paul  wrote  this  letter  (1  Cor.  xvi.  19),  and  again  some 
eight  or  nine  years  later  (2  Tim.  iv.  19). 

iv.  There  are  no  salutations  to  such  well-known  Roman  Christians  as 
Eubulus,  Pudens,  Linus,  Claudia  (2  Tim.  iv.  21). 

V.  How  comes  Epaenetus,  "  the  first-fruits  of  Asia,"  to  be  at  Rome, 
and  with  him  so  many  "kinsmen"  and  ardent  supporters,  and  fellow 

1  Tlie  reader  may  see  difforent  views  as  to  this  subject,  by  Bishop  Liglitfoot, 
Jmirnal  of  Philoloyy,  vi.  (1871)  ;  Dr.  Hort  {id.  v.  1870),  and  Dr.  GiflTord, 
Speaker's  Commentary,  iii.  20- 30.  The  view  adoptcMl  in  this  note  wiis  suggested 
by  Schuiz,  and  has  becai  adopted  by  Ewald,  Kenan,  Itenssand  otliei-s. 

2  Sender  as  far  hack  as  1707  wrote  a  i)aniphlet  J)e  Diij^Um  A2>pendkc  Ep. 
ad  Eom.  Ewald  also  tliouglit  that  xvi.  1-20  was  part  of  a  letter  to  Epfiestis 
written  from  Rome. 


The  Last  Chapter.  291 

prisoners  "  of  St.  Paul  (xvi.  7,  9,  12,  13)  ?  Had  all  tlie  Epliesian  Chnrcli 
made  a  rendezvous  at  Kome  1  ^  Where  (unless  it  was  in  the  scantily- 
recorded  perils  at  Epliesus)  could  Aquila  and  Priscilla  have  run  such 
risks  for  St.  Paul,  and  Andronicus  and  Junias  have  been  his  fellow- 
prisoners  (a-vvaixfioXcoToi)  1  ^ 

vi.  If  St.  Paul  had  so  many  kinsmen,  and  warm  friends,  and  benefactors 
at  Eome,  how  came  it  that  there  was  not  a  single  Eoman  Cliristian  to 
stand  by  him  in  his  hour  of  need  1  (2  Tim.  iv.  16.)  And  that  not  one  of 
them  is  among  the  three  Jewish  friends  who  were  faithful  to  him  in  his 
first  Roman  imprisonment  (Col.  iv.  10,  11)? 

vii.  How  comes  the  fraternal  reproachfulness  of  xvi.  17--20  to  be  so 
unlike  the  distant  politeness  of  xv.  15-20  ? 

viii.  How  come  so  many  of  St.  Paul's  friends  to  send  greetings  to 
distant  and  unvisited  Rome  ? 

ix.  How  come  there  to  be  three  or  four  different  terminations  to  this 
Epistle  at  xv.  33,  xvi.  20,  24,  27  1  Even  conservative  critics  like  Bishop 
Lightfoot  have  been  led  by  these  phenomena  to  suppose  that  St.  Paul 
himself  cumulated  this  letter  in  one  form  without  the  two  last  chapters. 

X.  How  comes  it  that  the  body  of  the  Epistle  does  not  show  tha 
slightest  trace  of  the  "divisions,"  "stumbling-blocks,"  "beguilers," 
mentioned  in  xvi.  17-20  ?  Such  elements  only  sprang  into  existence 
in  Rome  at  a  later  time  (PhU.  i.  15-17). 

xi.  How  are  we  to  account  for  the  MSS.  phenomena  :— the  absence  of 
the  final  doxology  from  E.G.  and  MSS.  mentioned  by  Jerome  1  its 
position  after  xiv.  23,  in  L.  &c.1  its  double  recurrence  (xiv.  24  ;  xvi. 
25)  in  A.  ]  Why  have  we  all  this  "  omission,  repetition,  transposition  "  ? 

xii.  Wliy  did  Marcion,  for  no  apparent  dogmatic  reason,  omit  these 
two  last  chapters  1 

xiii.  Lastly,  why  does  G.,  which  is  an  important  MS.  founded  on  a 
very  ancient  copy,  leave  a  blank  for  the  words  in  Rome,  in  i.  7,  15  1 

This  last  remarkable  phenomenon  probably  affords  us  a  solution  of  all 
the  others,  by  indicating  that  the  main  body  of  the  letter  loas  sent  to 
different  Churches  with  different  terminations. 

All  that  can  be  said  on  the  other  side  is  that 

a.  Rome  swarmed  with  Asiatics,  and  was  specia]]y  full  of  Greeks 
("Non  possum  ferre  Quirites  Graecam  urbem,"  Juv.  Sat  iii.  61-73).  The 
nrmes  of  those  saluted  are  chiefly  Greek.  (Yet  Garucci  found  that 
Latin  names  were  twice  as  numerous  as  Greek  in  the  old  Jewish 
cemetery  at  Rome.) 

/3.  Seven  of  the  common  names  are  found  on  inscriptions  in  the 
Roman  Columharia   (see  Bishop    Lightfoot,    rhilippiuns,  p.   172-175)  ; 

1^  Renan,  St.  Paul,  p.  Ixviii. 

-  Elsewhore  this  word  is  only  applied  to  Epaphras  (Philcm.  23)  and  Aris- 
tarchus  (Col.  iv.  18),  who  at  a  later  period  shared  St.  Paul's  l.'oinan  iniprison- 
nient. 

U  2 


290 


The  Ejjistles. 


V.  Tlie  rejection  is,  a.  only  partial  not  absolute  (xi.  110)  ; 
,3.  Temporary,  not  final,  and  meant  fur  the  liles-^iiig  oi' 
the  Gentiles  (11-32). 
vi.  Bur-st  of  thanksgiving  (33  3G). 

4.  Pkactical.    (La  foi  justiiie  quand  il  opero,  mais  il  n'opere  que  par 
la  charit(5. — Quesnel.) 

i.  Exhortations  to  holiness,  humility,  unity,  faithfulness, 
hope,  love  (xii.),  obedience  to  civil  authority,  love,  and 
watchfulness  (xiii.). 
ii.  Exhortations  to  mutual  forbearance  between  the  liberal 
and  the  narrow  Christians  (with  retrospective  allusions 
to  the  doctrine  already  established,  xiv.-xv.  13). 

5.  Personal  apology  for  having  thus  addressed  them  (xv,   13-21)  with 
remarks  on  his  future  plans. 

G.  Salutations  (xvi.  1-24)  (15-33). 
7.  Final  Blessing  (25-27). 


NOTE  II. 

ON   THE   INTEGRITY  OF   THE   EPISTLE.^ 

There  is  great  reason  to  doubt  whether  the  last  chapter  was  addressed 
to  the  Roman  Church.  It  has  been  suggested  with  some  probability 
that  it  is  really  an  appendix  to  the  letter  when  it  was  sent  to  the  Church 
of  Eidicsus.- 

i.  The  urgency  of  the  recommendation  of  Phoebe  to  a  strange  Church 
three  times  as  distant  from  Corinth  as  Ephesus,  is  hardly  what  we 
should  expect  (Rom.  xvi.  1,  2). 

ii.  It  is  strange  that  St.  Paul  should  salute  twenty-six  people  of  an 
entirely  strange  Church  when  he  only  salutes  one  or  two,  or  none,  in 
Churches  which  he  founded. 

iii.  Aquila  and  Priscilla  were  not  at  Borne  but  at  Ephesus,  a  few 
months  before  St.  Paul  wrote  this  letter  (1  Cor.  xvi.  19),  and  again  some 
eight  or  nine  years  later  (2  Tim.  iv.  19). 

iv.  There  are  no  salutations  to  such  well-known  Roman  Christians  as 
Eubulus,  Pudens,  Linus,  Claudia  (2  Tim.  iv.  21). 

V.  How  comes  Epaenetus,  "  the  first-fruits  of  Asia,"  to  be  at  Rome, 
and  with  him  so  many  "kinsmen"  and  ardent  supporters,  and  fellow 

^  The  reader  may  see  different  views  as  to  this  subject,  by  Bishop  Lightfoot, 
Journal  of  Philology,  vi.  (1871)  ;  Dr.  Hort  {id.  v.  1870),  and  Dr.  Gifford, 
Speakers  Commentary,  iii. -20- 30.  Tlie  view  adopted  in  this  note  was  suggested 
by  Schulz,  and  has  been  adopted  by  Evvald,  Eciuaii,  Reuss  and  others. 

^  Seniler  as  far  back  as  1707  wrote  a  pamphlet  De  Duplice  Aj^pcndicc  Ep. 
ad  Jiom.  Kwald  also  thought  that  xvi.  1-20  was  part  of  a  letter  to  Ephesus 
written  from  Rome. 


THE    EPISTLE    TO     THE     PHILIPPIANS 

(written    in   prison   at   ROME,   CIRC.  A.D.   62.) 

"  Suninia  Einstolac—gaudeo,  gandctc." — Bengel. 

"  An  Epistle  of  the  heart."— Meyer. 

"  Tliat  man  is  very  strong  and  powerful  who  has  no  more  hopes  for  himself, 
who  looks  not  to  be  loved  any  more,  to  be  admired  any  more,  to  have  any 
more  honour  or  dignity,  and  who  cares  not  for  gratitude  ;  but  whose  sole 
thouglit  is  for  others,  and  who  lives  on  for  tliem." — Helps, 

INTPODUCTORY. 

There  cannot  bo  the  shadow  of  a  doubt  as  to  the  genuine-  philippiai^s. 
ness  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Phihppians.  Baur,  who  was  the 
first  to  suggest  any  suspicion  on  the  subject  (Paidns,  i.  458),  on 
very  insufficient  grounds,  has  been  decisively  answered  by 
many  scholars.^  It  is  amply  supported  by  external  evi- 
dence, and  the  objections  brought  against  it  are  more  than 
usually  weak,  fantastic,  and  untenable. 

The  unity  of  the  Epistle  is  equally  established.  Stephen 
Le  Moyne's  division  of  it  into  two  Epistles  only  rose  from  the 
expression  of  Polycai-p,  who,  writing  to  the  Philippians,  says, 
"  Neither  I,  nor  any  one  like  mc,  can  reach  the  wisdom  of 
the  blessed  and  glorious  Paul,  who  also,  when  absent,  wrote  to 
you  letters  into  which  if  ye  look  ye  will  be  able  to  edify  your- 
selves in  the  faith  which  has  been  given  to  you."  But  (1) 
eVio-ToXa?  (Thuc.  viii.  51,  Jos.  Antt.  xii.  4,  6,  10)  may  mean 
"  a  letter "  just  as  litcrae  does  in  Latin,  and,  indeed,  a  little 
further  on  Polycarp  speaks  of  only  one  letter  (xi.) ;  (2)  St. 

^  De  Wette,  Schenkcl,  Reuss,  Lfinemann,  Briicknor,  Ernesti,  Meycr= 
Wilibald  Grimm,  B.  Wei.ss,  Pfleiderer,  Ililgenfeld,  Lightfoot,  kc. 


294  The  Ejnstles. 

■iiiLii-piANs.  Paul  may  have  written  other  letters  to  tlie  Pliilippians — 
indeed,  he  probably  did  (iii.  18).  All  attempts  to  divide  the 
letter  into  two  (Heinrichs,  Paulus,  Weisse,  &c.)  have  signally 
failed,  and  Phil.  iii.  1  has  no  bearing  on  the  question. 

Few  now  suppose  that  it  was  written  in  the  imprisonment 
at  Caesarea.  (1)  In  that  imprisonment  he  could  not  have 
hoped  for  a  speedy  liberation  for  he  had  appealed  to  Caesar. 
(2)  He  was  not  chained  at  Caesarea  till  Felix  left ;  but  in 
this  Epistle  (i.  7,  13,  16,  17),  and  in  the  others,  he  constantly 
refers  to  "his  bonds."     See  further  Bleek,  Uml.  p.  161. 

The  certainty  that  this  Epistle  is  authentic  is  a  strong 
additional  argument  in  favour  of  the  authenticity  of  those  to 
the  Epliesians  and  Colossians  tnj\Oiin]i  this  letter  forms  the 
connecting, link.  It  marks  the  beginning  of  Paul's  "later 
manner,"  and  shows  traces  of  the  new  conceptions — less  indi- 
vidual and  more  universal,  less  national  and  more  cosmo- 
politan, less  relating  to  special  Churches  and  more  to  the 
whole  Church,  less  impassioned  and  more  severe  in  their 
maturity,  less  relating  to  Judaic  questions  and  more  to  the 
questions  which  rose  from  Gentile  speculation,  less  Judaic  and 
Hellenic  and  more  Roman — which  were  certain  to  have  resulted 
irom  the  growth  of  the  Church,  and  from  the  change  in  St, 
Paul's  circumstances,  when  he  was  no  longer  the  wandering 
missionary  engaged  in  daily  controversies,  but  the  prisoner  at 
Rome,  chained  to  Roman  soldiers  and  expecting  his  trial  before 
the  Emperor  of  the  world.  The  Church  of  PhilipiDi  was  itself 
an  illustration  of  the  confluence  of  nationalities  at  this  epoch. 
It  was  a  Church  founded  by  two  Jewish  missionaries  and  the 
Jewish  son  of  a  Gentile  father  (Timothy)  in  a  Roman  colony 
which  had  occupied  the  old  Greek  city  of  "  the  Fountains  " 
(Crenides) ;  and  as  Meyer  says,  "  the  town  thus  vindicated  its 
original  name  in  a  higher  sense  for  the  entire  West."  We 
may  collect  the  general  manliness  of  the  inhabitants  from 
the  military  metaphors  (i.  27,  ii.  25,  iv.  7),  and  their  culture 
from  such  terms  as  alcrdriaL<;,  /xopcferj,  avTapK/j<i. 


Date  of  the  E2nstle.  295 


THE  EPISTLE  TO  THE  PHILIPPIANS. 

"  I  jo}-  auJ  ivjoice,  with  you  all."— PiiiL.  ii.  17. 

1.  It  was  during  St.  Paul's  detention  at  Home  in  a  sort  of  philippians. 
military  custody  for  two  years,  and  in  the  later  and  severer  phase 

of  it,  that  he  wrote  the  four  letters  which  constitute  his  third 
group  of  Epistles — those  to  the  Philippians,  Colossians, 
Philemon,  and  Ephesians.  The  Epistle  to  the  Philippians, 
written  some  four  years  later  than  that  to  the  Romans,  is  , 

the  first  which  breaks  the  silence  of  his  sad  captivity.^ 

2.  It  arose  directly  out  of  one  of  the  few  happy  incidents 
which  diversified  the  dreary  uncertainties  of  the  prisoner's 
lot.  Just  as  gleams  of  sunshine  brighten  the  incessant 
showers  of  an  April  day,  so  God  sometimes  touches  with 
brightness  the  tears  of  life.  The  incident  which  thus  cheered 
the  brave  heart  of  the  imprisoned  Paul  was  the  visit  of 
Epaphroditus,  a  leading  presbyter  of  the  Church  of  Philippi. 

^  I  can  feel  little  or  no  doubt  that  this  is  the  earliest  of  the  Epistles  of  the  ^      I 

Captivity.  For  (1)  when  St.  Paul  wrote  it  he  was  C|uite  uncertaia-iis  to  what  his  ;      .'f 

ultimate  fate  would  be  (i.  20-25  ;  ii.  23),  thougli  be  hoped  to  be  acquitted  (^ 

(ii.  24).  On  the  other  hand,  when  he  wrote  the  letter  to  Philemon  (and  there- 
fore those  to  the  Colossians  and  Ephesians)  he  was  sufHciently  sanguine  of 
acquittal  to  ask  Philemon  (v.  22)  to  prepare  him  a  lodging.  Further  (2)  the 
order  of  thought  in  this  Epistle  has  an  affinity  with  that  of  the  letters 
to  the  Galatians  and  the  Romans.  It  breathes  the  same  tone  as  the  letter 
to  the  Eomans,  and  has  many  parallels  of  thought  and  expression.  On  the 
other  hand,  when  he  wrote  to  iSphesus  and  Colossac,  a  new  set  of  experiences, 
and  the  necessity  for  dealnig  with  problems  of  a  wholly  different  character 
from  those  which  he  had  hitherto  faced,  had  carried  him  into  wholly  different 
subjects.  Seeing  the  delicate  susceptibility  of  St.  Paul's  mind,  and  its  tenacity 
of  recent  phrases  and  impressions,  I  hold  it  to  be  a  psychological  impossibility 
that  he  should  have  v\'ritten  Philippians  after  Colossians  and  Ephesians,  and  yet 
have  shown  no  traces  of  the  special  thoughts  with  which  he  had  been  so  recently 
and  so  powerfully  occupied.  It  could  not  have  been  written  at  the  beginning 
of  St.  Paul's  imprisoi^ment,  because  time  must  be  allowed  for  the  news  of  St. 
Paul's  arrival  at  Rome  to  reach  Philippi  ;  for  the  journey  of  Epaphroditus 
from  Phili])pi  to  Rome  ;  for  his  illness  ;  for  the  reception  of  the  news  of  that 
illness  at  Philippi ;  and  for  the  return  of  their  expressions  of  sorrow  and 
sympathy.  But  this  would  not  require  more  than  a  year.  Philippi  is  about 
700  miles  from  Rome,  and  the  journey  occupied  about  a  month. 


20G  The  Ejyistles. 

He  brought  with  him  no  less  than  tlie  fourth  pecuniary  con- 
tribution by  Avhich  that  loving  and  generous  Church  had 
ministered  to  his  necessities.  At  Rome  the  Apostle  was 
unable  with  his  fettered  hands  to  work,  as  he  had  done  else- 
where, for  his  own  livelihood.  One  would  have  thought  that 
the  members  of  the  Roman  Church — some,  for  instance,  of 
those  brethren  who  a  year  or  two  earlier  had  thronged  forth 
as  far  as  Appii  Forum  to  meet  him^ — were  sufficiently 
numerous  and  sufficiently  wealthy  to  have  saved  the  great 
Apostle  from  the  wearing  degradation  of  pecuniary  anxiety ; 
but  they  treated  him  with  the  same  unaccountable  indiffer- 
ence of  inconsiderate  selfishness  ^  with  which,  to  this  day,  in 
thousands  of  English  parishes,  ministers  are  left  to  sti-uggle 
unaided  with  the  anguish  of  scanty  means.  And  it  was  an 
additional  source  of  sorrow  to  him  that  even  in  the  Roman 
Church  the  party  spirit  of  the  Judaists  and  others  was  so 
bitter  that  some  were  preaching  Christ  of  strife  and  envy. 
Nothing  but  the  Apostle's  splendid  magnanimity  could  have 
helped  him  to  bear  this  trial.  It  was  something  that,  in  any 
way  whatever,  the  name  and  the  Gospel  of  Christ  should  be 
made  known.  It  was  being  made  known  in  the  hest  way  by 
the  courage  which  his  bonds  inspired  and  by  the  intercourse 
with  Praetorian  soldiers  Avliich  those  bonds  necessitated.^ 
"  In  every  way,"  he  says,  "  whether  in  pretence  or  in  truth 
the  story  of  Christ  is  being  told  (KaTayyiWeTai),  and  therein 
I  rejoice,  yea  a«d  I  will  rejoice."  * 

^  Acts  xxviii.  15. 

*  In  ii.  21  he  Siiys  with  deep  sadness  that  "all  {ol  Travres)  seek  their  own 
interests." 

*  He  says  (i.  13)  that  "his  bonds  became  manifest  in  Christ,  iv  iKtp  t# 
wpairwplci>,"  not  (as  in  A.V.)  "  throughout  the  whole  palace,"  but  (as  in  R.V.) 
"throufjhout  the  whole  in-aetorian  guard,"  cn^lriim  pmetorianuni  (Suet.  Tib. 
37)  ;  and  he  adds,  "  to  all  the  rest."  Even  in  Caesars  household  (iv.  22) 
some  had  been  converted.  The  ingenious  speculations  which  try  to  connect 
St.  Paul  with  Seneca  througb  Gallio  and  Hurrhus  have  no  real  base.  The 
resemblances  to  Stoic  doctrines  as  enunciated  by  Seneca,  which  are  found  in 
this  Epistle,  are  of  a  general  character,  and  refer  to  truths  which,  so  to  speak, 
were  "in  the  air."  Sec  Bishop  Liglitfoot's  Essay  on  St.  Paul  and  Seneca 
{Fhilippiana,  pp.  263-326). 

'  It  may  be  that  St.  Paul  would  hardly  have  used  such  mild  words  in  the 
earlier  stages  of  his  Judaic  controversy.     But  as  llitzig  says  the  age  of  the 


Epaphrodltiis.  297 

Amid  neglect,  misery,  and  opposition  St.  Paul  felt  all  the  rmLipriANs. 
keener  appreciation  for  the  kindness  of  one  truly  generous 
community.  From  the  Philippians  he  could  accept  the  aid 
which  they  on  their  parts  esteemed  it  a  privilege  and  a  bless- 
ing to  be  allowed  to  give.  Philippi  was  specially  dear  to 
him.  It  was  the  first  of  all  the  Christian  Churches  which  he 
had  founded  in  Europe.  "  See  !  what  a  yearning  he  feels 
for  Macedonia  ! "  says  Chrysostom.  He  liked  the  manly 
independence  and  affectionate  enthusiasm  of  the  Roman 
citizens  of  Macedonia.  His  use  of  the  word  "  citizenship  " 
and  "  play  the  citizens "  shows  how  he  shared  with  them 
the  honourable  pride  of  a  claim  to  the  franchise  of  the 
empire.  Perhaps  the  wealth  of  a  few  converts  like  Lydia 
made  it  less  difficult  for  him  to  avail  himself  of  their 
bounty. 

It  was  about  autumn  when  Epaphroditus  arrived  from 
PhilipiDi,  with  the  offering,^  which  supplied  the  suffering 
Apostle  with  all  that  was  immediately  necessary  for  his 
simple  needs.  Flinging  himself  into  the  work  of  the 
Gospel  at  Rome  at  that  unhealthy  and  malarious  season, 
Epaphroditus  was  soon  prostrated  by  a  dangerous  and  all 
but  fatal  sickness.  The  news  of  this  illness  caused  great 
sorrow  at  Philippi,  and  Paul  too  felt  that  the  death  of  "  his 
brother  Epaphroditus,"  as  he  tenderly  calls  him,  would  have 
plunged  him  in  yet  heavier  sadness.  No  miracle  was  thought 
of.  The  cases  of  Epaphroditus  and  of  Trophimus  show  that, 
in  ordinary  life,  the  Apostles  never  dreamt  of  exerting  any 
supernatural  power.  But  those  were  days  in  which  all 
Christians  had  an  unfeigned  belief  in  prayer.  Paul  and  the 
Philippians  pleaded  with  God  for  the  life  of  their  sick  friend, 

Apostle,  which  was  now  perhaps  approaching  sixty  j-ears,  and  the  trial  of  his 
imprisonment  tended  to  soften  his  feelings.  Fnrthcr,  these  lioman  Jews 
may  not  have  belonged  to  the  "ultramontaiie  "  Judaists,  who  demanded  tliat 
the  Gentiles  should  be  circumcised.  Calvin  was  not  a  man  of  very  mild  dis- 
position, yet  he  said  of  Luther,  "he  may  call  me  'a  beast,'  and  'a  devil,' 
but  1  shall  always  think  of  him  as  a  good  servant  of  Jesus  Christ." 

^  They  had  ministered  to  his  necessities  twice  before  at  Thessalonica  (iv.  ]  6) 
and  once  at  Corinth  (2  Cor.  xi.  9). 


298  The  Epistles. 

ruiLirriANs.  as  Luther  and  the  Reformers  pleaded  for  the  life  of  Melanch- 
thon.^  God  heard  their  supplication.  Epajiliroditus  recovered  ; 
and  deeply  as  St.  Paul,  in  his  loneliness  and  discouragement, 
would  have  liked  to  keep  this  dear  friend  by  his  side,  yet, 
with  his  usual  unselfishness,  he  yielded  to  the  yearning  of 
Epaphroditus  for  his  home,  and  of  the  Christians  of  Philippi 
for  their  absent  pastor.  He  therefore  sent  him  back,  and 
v^ith  him  he  sent  this  letter,  in  which  he  expressed  his  heart- 
felt gratitude  for  the  affection  which  had  so  happily  cheered 
the  monotony  of  his  sorrows. 

Thus  the  Ei^istle  to  the  Philipf)ians  is  what  we  should  call 
an  occasional  letter.  There  is  nothing  systematic  or  special 
about  it.  It  is  not  a  trumpet-note  of  defiance  like  the  Ejjistle 
to  the  Galatians.  It  is  not  the  rejjly  to  a  number  of  ques- 
tions like  the  First  to  the  Corinthians.  It  is  not  a  treatise 
of  theology  like  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans.  It  has  more  of 
a  personal  character  like  the  Second  Epistle  to  the  Corin- 
thians ;  but  it  is  poured  forth,  not  to  those  towards  whom  he 
had  little  cause  for  gratitude  and  much  need  for  forbearance 
— not  to  jealous  critics  and  bitter  opponents — but  to  the 
favourite  converts  of  his  ministry,  to  the  dearest  children  of 
his  love.  It  is  a  genuine  and  simj)le  letter — the  warm,  spon- 
taneous, loving  effusion  of  a  heart  which  could  express  itself 
with  unreserved  affection  to  a  most  kind  and  a  most  beloved 
Church.  That  Church  of  Philippi  seems  to  have  been 
eminently  free  from  errors  of  doctrine  and  irregularities  of 
practice.  One  fault,  and  one  alone,  appears  to  have  required 
correction,  and  this  was  of  so  personal  and  limited  a  character, 
that  St.  Paul  only  needs  to  hint  at  it  gently  and  with  affec- 
tionate entreaty.  This  was  a  want  of  unity  between  some 
of  its  members,  especially  between  two  ladies,  whom  St.  Paul 
entreats  to  be  reconciled  to  each  other.  I  have  already  men- 
tioned that  in  the  greeting  or  thanksgiving  of  each  of  St. 
Paul's  letters  we  almost  always  find  a  liiut  of  their  main 

^  "Allda  musste  mir  uiiser  Ht-rr  Gott  herhaltun.  I)('iiii  ioh  riel)  Ihm  die 
Oliren  mit  alien  jtromissionibus  exaudiendarum  precum." — LvriiEi:. 


Unity.  299 

motive  or  object.^  In  this  letter  we  find  it  in  the  predominance  v; 
of  the  word  "  all  "  in  the  thanksgiving  of  the  third  verse — "  I 
thank  my  God  in  all  remembrance  of  you,  always  in  all  my 
supplication  for  you  all,  making  my  supplication  with  joy  at 
your  united  work  for  the  Gospel."  This  general  unity  had 
existed  from  the  first  day  he  had  visited  them,  ten  years  ago, 
until  now.  He  recurs  to  the  same  topic  at  the  beginning  of  the 
second  chapter,^  where  he  again  urges  them  to  unity.  "  Fulfil 
my  joy  that  ye  may  think  the  same  thing  ;  having  the  same 
love ;  heart-united  ;  thinking  one  thing.  Nothing  for  partisan- 
ship, or  for  empty  personal  vanity  !  but  in  lowliness  of  mind, 
each  of  you  thinking  others  his  own  superiors,  not  severally 
keeping  your  eye  on  your  own  interests,  but  also  severally  on 
the  interests  of  others.  Be  of  the  same  mind  in  yourselves  that 
Christ  Jesus  was  in  Himself,  who,  existing  in  the  form  {i.e.  in 
the  very  nature,  /xopcfifj)  of  God,  deemed  not  equality  with  God 
a  thing  for  eager  seizure,  but  emptied  Himself,  taking  the 
form  (the  very  nature,  fiop(f)r]v)  of  a  slave,  revealing  Himself 
in  human  semblance  (o/MotoofiaTi)  ;  and  being  found  ^  in 
figure  {axW'^Ti')  as  a  man,  humbled  Himself,  showing  Him- 
self obedient  unto  death,  ay,  and  that  death  the  death  of  the 
Cross."  And  so  having,  for  our  example,  in  lowliness  and 
unselfishness,  descended  from  the  infinite  summit  of  glory  to  ' 
the  most  abysmal  depths  of  self-humiliation,  He  was  again 
exalted  by  God  to  a  throne  above  all  thrones,  and  a  dominion 
above  all  dominions.* 

^  An  interesting  feature  of  this  greeting  is  that  here  alone  he  makes  special 
mention  of  the  "  bishops  and  deacons."  From  the  word  "bishops"  we  must 
exclude  all  modern  connotations  of  the  word.  At  this  period  "bishops  "  were 
simply  "presbyters."  The  plural  form  of  the  word  shows  the  date  of  the 
Epistle  before  the  separation  of  the  office  of  the  "  Episcopos  "  from  that  of  the 
"  Preslmteroi." 

'^  There  are  two  sections  in  the  letter  which  are  devoted  to  the  subject  of 
unity— i.  27-ii.  18  ;  and  iv.  1-9.  Unity  was  all  the  more  essential  in  the 
pre.scnce  of  persecution  {avTiKel/ievoi,  i.  28). 

*  See  John  i.  45. 

*  It  is  characteristic  of  the  extreme  depth  and  fulness  of  the  mind  of  St. 
Paul,  that  even  into  an  exhortation  to  the  common  Christian  duty  of  unity  he 
thus  casually  introduces  a  passage  so  theologically  important.  The  chief 
truths  of  the  profoundest  Cliristology  could  not  have  been  expressed  more 
gvan<ily,   and  at  the  same  time  more  tersely  than  in  this  swift  outline  of 


300  The  Epistles. 

3.  Tliis  exhortation  to  perfect  unity,  founded  upon  the  abso- 
lute humility  and  self-sacrifice  of  Christ,  was  the  most  serious 
object  of  this  letter.  Its  infinite  charm  rests  in  its  exquisite 
spontaneity.  It  is  not  of  course  such  a  letter  as  that  to  the 
Romans,  but  it  is  in  all  respects  worthy  of  St.  Paul,  and 
shows  him  in  some  of  the  sweetest  aspects  of  his  character. 
St.  Paul  cannot  always  wear  the  majestic  cothurnus,  yet  his 
lightest  words  are  full  of  dignity.  He  could  never  be  colour- 
less. Even  his  briefest  and  most  casual  letters  derive  their 
colouring  from  those  rich  hues  of  the  writer's  individuality, 
which  made  it  impossible  for  him  to  write  five  lines  without 
giving  us  some  of  those  jewels  of  spiritual  thought  or  noble 
expression  "Avhich  on  the  stretched  forefinger  of  all  time 
sparkle  for  ever." 

The  outline  of  this  delightful  letter  of  thanks  to  a  loving 
Church  is  simply  as  follows.  The  exhortation  to  unity 
occupies  sixteen  verses  of  the  second  chapter,  and,  with 
this  exception,  after  the  greeting  and  thanksgiving,  the 
rest  of  the  first  two  chapters  is  filled  with  personal  details 
about  his  feelings  and  work  at  Rome,  especially  the 
touching  words  about  his  difficulty  of  choosing  between 
life  and  anticipated  death.  The  letter,  in  fact,  is  mainly 
composed   of  two   factors — personal   details    (i.    12 — 26 ;   ii. 

Christ's  passage  downwards,  step  by  step,  from  the  infinite  heights  into  the 
uttermost  abyss  of  self-humiliation  (ii.  6-8),  and  then  His  re-ascent  upwards 
into  the  super-exaltation  *  of  unimaginable  dominion  (ii.  9-11).  Each  word 
of  the  passage  is  full  of  meaning.  Around  the  single  verb  "He  emptied 
Himself"  t  has  risen  a  wide  controversy  known  as  "  the  kenosU  controversy," 
and  there  is  much  significance,  though  no  shadow  of  Docetism,  in  the  contrast 
between  the  e.xpressions  "form"  and  "fashion" — the  abiding  and  essential 
form  or  inmost  nature  {fxop<p^])  of  God,  in  which  Christ  eternally  was,  and  the 
outward  transitory  fasliion  (axvi^o)  of  a  man  in  which  He  was  found. 

In  tliis  passage  the  "  thought  it  not  robbery  to  be  equal  with  God"  of  the 
A.V.  is  an  unfortunate  mistranslation  which  almost  reverses  the  real  meaning. 
The  whole  context  proves  the  meaning  to  be  tliat  "  He  counted  it  not  a  prize  " 
— apirayiiSv  colloquially,  perhaps  incorrectly,  used  in  the  sense  of  Hpnay/xa — 
or  "  a  thing  to  be  grasped  "  to  be  on  an  equality  with  God.  We  can  only 
mention  it  as  a  literary  and  tlieological  curiosity  tliat  so  able  a  critic  as 
Baur  fancied  that  this  was  an  allusion  to  "Wisdom  (Sophia)  the  last  yEon  of 
the  Pleroma  in  tlie  Yalentinian  system,  whose  oilsjiring  sank  back  into  the 
Emptiness  (Kcnoma)  wlien  she  attempted  to  unite  herself  to  the  Absolute  ! 

*  ii.  9.  uirepi/'>|/w<r€.  t  ii.  7,  (aurhy  iKivocaev. 


A  Sudden  Outburst.  301 

17 — 30  ;  iv.  10 — 15)  and  exhortations  to  unity  (i.  27  ;  ii.  16  ;  rniLirpiANs. 
iv.  1 — 9).  But  in  the  second  verse  of  the  third  chapter  the 
Apostle  is  suddenly  interrupted  and  disturbed  by  we  know 
not  what  bitter  gust  of  feeling,  caused  by  we  know  not  what 
machination  of  Jewish  malice.  Apparently  he  was  on  the 
point  of  ending  his  letter.  He  had  said  "  finally,"  and 
"  farewell,"  when,  with  a  sudden  burst,  as  it  were,  he  breaks 
into  a  digression  singularly  imlike  the  calm,  sweet,  tolerant 
tone  of  the  rest  of  the  letter.  It  is  like  coming  across  a 
stream  of  molten  lava  in  the  midst  of  green  fields.  He 
warns  the  Philippians  in  words  of  intense  severity  against 
Jewish  and  immoral  opponents,  whom  he  calls  dogs  and  evil 
workers,  and  of  whom  he  says  that  their  god  is  their  belly 
and  their  glory  in  their  shame.  With  the  vain  boastings  and 
unhallowed  worldliness  of  these  Judaists — this  "  mutilation 
party,"  as  he  calls  them — he  contrasts  his  own  trust  (in  spite 
of  all  his  privileges  of  birth  and  life)  in  Christ  alone.^  He 
tells  them  that,  so  far  from  counting  himself  perfect,  he  aims 
at  resembling  one  of  those  wild-eyed  charioteers  of  whom  his 
soldier-guards  told  him  so  often  when  they  had  come  from 
witnessing  the  races  in  the  Circus  Maximus.  He  too  was  a 
charioteer  on  the  road  to  righteousness,  leaning  forward,  as  it 
were,  in  his  flying  car  ;  bending  over  the  shaken  rein  and  the 
goaded  steed,  forgetting  everything — every  peril,  every  com- 
petitor, every  circling  of  the  meta  in  the  rear,  as  he  pressed  on 
for  the  goal  by  which  sate  the  judges  with  the  palm,  which 
should  be  the  prize  of  his  heavenly  calling  of  God  in  Christ.^ 

^  This  passage  (lii.  2-19)  is,  with  the  famous  passage  about  Christ's  self- 
inanition  (ii.  5-11),  tlie  most  distinctive  and  doctrinally  important  in  the 
letter.  Having  begun  the  chapter,  "Finally,  my  brethren,  farewell  in  the 
Lord,  to  write  to  you  the  same  things  " — i.e.  these  constant  exhortations  to 
unity,  or  perhaps  to  joy — "is  for  me  not  burdensome,  but  for  you  it  is  safe," 
he  stops,  and  adds  with  startling  suddenness,  "  Beware  of  the  dogs,  beware 
of  the  evil  workers,  beware  of  the  concision."  There  is  nothing  un-Pauline  in 
the  words.  In  2  Cor.  xi.  13,  he  had  spoken  of  Judaists  as  "deceitful  workers,'" 
and  if  "concision" — a  word  which  implies  that  circumcision  may  be  a  mere 
physical  mutilation — be  a  very  severe  expression,  it  is  at  any  rate  less  so  than 
the  (perhaps  half-humorous)  sternness  of  the  expression  o(pe\ov  airoKS^ovrai 
in  Gal.  v.  12. 

-  iii.  14,  iTKOTrhs  "goal "  occurs  here  alone  in  the  New  Testament. 


302  The  Epistles. 

This  long  digression  is,  as  it  were,  the  sjient  wave,  the  dying  echo 
of  the  Judaic  controversy.  Beginning  in  strong  indignation,  it 
calms  itself  down  into  pathetic  appeal.  At  the  close  of  it,  in 
the  third  chapter,  he  addresses  his  earnest  apjseal  to  the  two 
ladies  Euodia  and  Syntyche.^  After  one  more  exhortation  to 
Christian  joy  and  steadfastness,  he  ends  with  wai-m  expressions 
of  gratitude  for  their  generous  kindness,  and  with  the  salu- 
tation and  blessing  with  which  he  invariably  concludes.^  How 
richly  must  the  Philippians  have  felt  themselves  repaid  for 
their  generosity  by  the  receipt  of  a  letter  so  gentle  and  so 
precious  ! 

4.  We  have  seen  that  the  letter  originated  in  an  act  of 
Christian  liberality,  and  that  its  most  marked  characteristic 
is  that  of  Christian  joy.  These  two  topics,  which  bear  on 
the  origin  and  the  speciality  of  the  letter,  require  a  few  words 
of  further  consideration. 

i.  We  are  often  doubtless  exhorted  to  Christian  liberality. 
Yet  when  we  notice  the  urgency  with  which  St.  Paul  in 
letter  after  letter  pleads  for  the  poor  saints  at  Jerusalem, 
we  may  well  doubt  whether  this  great  duty  is  pressed  home 
to  us  so  plainly,  so  fearlessly,  and  so  decisively  as  is  desirable. 
Out  of  the  circle    of   our   own  immediate  families,  beyond 

^  Sclnveglcr  and  Volkmar  see  in  Euodia  and  Syntj'che,  not  two  ladies,  but 
two  partios — the  orthodox  or  Petrine  party,  and  the  Gentile  Christians.  Hitzig 
also  thinks  that  EucoS/a  is  a  feminine  form,  invented  from  Ev65ios  (LXX.  Gen. 
XXX.  13  =  Asher)  and  ^vvrvxri,  foi"  «'"  t^XV  —  C!ad)  to  show  that  they  were 
not  really  women  ! 

-  In  iv.  3,  we  have  "  Yea  and  I  beseech  thee,  also,  true  j-okefellow  "  {yvfiffie 
avCvye).  Who  is  this  unnamed  yokefellow  ?  Renan  (S.  Paul,  IG.*))  thinks  that 
it  was  Lydia,  and  Clemens  of  Alexandria  [Stroni.  iii.  6,  53)  that  she  was 
Paul's  wife  !  Baur  thinks  that  it  was  meant  (by  the  forger)  to  indicate  St. 
Peter.  It  is  so  unusual  to  salute  a  person  witliout  mentioning  his  name 
that  I  believe  W(!  have  here  a  paronomasia,  and  that  the  Philippian's  name 
was  Syzygus.  It  would  be  (]uite  in  St.  Paul's  mnnncr  to  address  him  as 
Syzygus  "yokefellow"  in  heart  as  in  name.  The  Tubingen  school  suppose  the 
Pliilippian  C'lemont  who  is  hc^re  saluted  to  be  meant  for  Clement  of  Rome, 
and  they  identify  him  with  tlie  martyred  Consul,  uncle  of  Domitian ! 
Clemens  was  a  very  common  name,  and  there  is  nothing  to  show  that  he  was 
not  a  member  of  the  Pliilippian  Church. 

Another  question  occurs  to  us,  why  does  he  add  to  the  salutation  of  the 
.<;aints,  "cspxiaUy  they  of  Caesar's  household"?  That  question  cannot  be 
answered.  "They  of  Caesar's  household"  were  probably  a  Imndful  out  of 
the  thoiisaruis  of  slaves  who  filled  the  palace  of  Nero. 


Liberality  and  Joy.  303 

the  edge  of  what  may  he  called  a  somewhat  selfish  domes-  miLippiANf 
ticity,  over  the  verge  of  the  slightly  expanded  egotism  of 
the  private  home,  how  many  of  us  do  anything  appreciable 
to  alleviate  the  distresses,  to  lessen  the  misery,  to  heal  the 
open  sores  of  the  world,  to  visit  Christ  in  His  sickness, 
to  relieve  Christ  in  His  hunger,  to  comfort  Him  in  His 
imj)risonment,  or  clothe  Him  in  His  nakedness  ?  And  if  this 
be  so,  if  it  be  not  ours  to  visit  the  fatherless  and  widows  in 
their  affliction,  or  to  discharge  in  person  the  high  duties  of 
Christian  charity,  we  can  only  fulfil  these  duties  at  all  by 
generous  giving.  How  many  are  there  who  adequately 
discharge  this  duty  ?  Iilay  we  not  all  learn  from  these 
Philippians,  the  dej^ths  of  whose  j)overty  abounded  to  the 
riches  of  their  liberality  ? 

ii.  Notice,  lastly,  the  speciality  of  this  letter  in  its  fine 
throbbing  undertone  of  spiritual  joy.  It  has  been  said  that 
the  sum  of  the  whole  letter  is  "  I  rejoice,  rejoice  ye."  When 
Paul  and  Silas  lay  in  the  deepest  dungeons  of  Philippi,  scored 
and  bleeding  from  the  flagellation  which  the  local  "  Praetors  " 
had  inflicted  upon  them  in  the  forum,  they  had  sung  songs 
in  the  night.  Another  song  now  emanates  from  the  Apostle's 
Roman  prison.  His  letter  is  like  one  of  those  magnificent 
l^ieces  of  music  which,  amid  all  its  stormy  fugues  and  mighty 
discords,  is  dominated  by  some  inner  note  of  triumph  which 
at  last  bursts  forth  into  irresistible  and  glorious  victory.  It  is 
new  and  marvellous.  What  was  there  thus  to  fill  the  soul 
and  flood  the  utterance  of  St.  Paul  with  joy  ?  The  letter 
was  dictated  by  a  worn  and  fettered  Jew,  the  victim  of  gross 
jjerjury,  and  the  prey  of  contending  enmities ;  dictated  by 
a  man  of  feeble  frame,  in  afflicted  circumstances,  vexed 
with  hundreds  of  opponents,  and  with  scarce  one  friend 
to  give  him  consolation.  Could  any  one  have  been 
embittered  with  deeper  wrongs,  or  tormented  by  deadlier 
sufferings  ?  Before  we  look  upon  this  serene  cheerfulness, 
this  unmurmuring  resignation  of  St.  Paul  as  a  matter  of 
course,  compare  him  for  a  moment  with  others  whose  circum- 


304  The  Ejmtlcs. 

■iiiLii'i'iAxs.  stances  were  a  tliousandfokl  less  pitiable  tban  his.  I  will  not 
take  the  case  of  Ovid  and  the  wailing  agony  of  his  Tristia, 
for  Ovid  was  a  poet  whose  genius  had  been  debased  by 
the  enervation  of  long-continued  sensuality.  But  let  us 
compare  St.  Paul  with  men  of  finer  fibre  and  purer  life. 
Cicero  was,  for  a  short  time,  exiled.  His  exile  had  every 
mitigation.  He  w^as  not  imprisoned.  He  could  choose  his 
own  home.  He  was  surrounded  wdierever  he  went  with 
wealth,  luxury,  admiration,  troops  of  friends.  He  knew  that 
the  great  and  the  powerful  were  using  all  their  influence  on 
his  behalf.  And  yet,  though  he  claimed  to  be  a  philosopher, 
though  he  had  published  whole  volumes  of  lofty  exhortation, 
there  is  scarcely  one  of  the  many  letters  which  he  wrote  during 
that  short  exile  wdiich  is  not  full  of  unmanly  lamentations. 

Take  another  instance.  Seneca  was  a  contemporary  of 
St.  Paul ;  he  may  even  have  seen  him.  He  was  a  man  of 
immense  wealth,  of  high  rank,  of  great  reputation ;  a  man 
who  wrote  books  full  of  the  most  sounding  professions  of 
Stoic  endurance  and  Stoic  superiority  to  passion  and  to  pain. 
He  too  w^as,  for  a  short  time,  exiled  to  Sardinia.  He  too  was 
free,  and  rich, and  he  had  powerful  friends.  How  did  he  bear 
his  exile  ?  He  too  broke  into  abject  complaints,  and  in  spite 
of  his  Stoicism  was  not  ashamed  to  grovel  with  extravagant 
flatteries  at  the  feet  of  a  worthless  frecdman,  to  induce  him 
to  procure  his  return. 

Take  another  instance,  and  this  time  a  Christian — Dante. 
We  know  what  he  thought  and  felt  about  "the  hell  of 
exile,  that  slow,  bitter,  lingering,  hopeless  death,  which  none 
can  know  but  the  exile  himself."  We  know  how,  when  the 
monk  Avho  opened  for  him  the  door  of  the  monastery  of 
Santa  Croce  asked  him  "  What  seek  you  here  ? "  he  gazed 
round  him  with  hollow  eyes  and  slowly  answered  *'  Pacem!" 
"  Peace." 

We  might  take  other  instances.  We  might  compare  St. 
Paul  in  exile  with  Clarendon,  or  Atterbury,  or  Bolingbroke. 
His    lot   was    incomparably    W(irse    than  theirs,    for  he   was 


Joy  in  Affliction,  306 

not  only  an  exile,  he  was  cold  and  hungry,  and  a  prisoner  philippians. 
and  lonely,  and  sufifering  and  distressed  by  the  constant 
machinations  of  bitter  opponents,  and  with  the  sword 
of  the  headsman  hanging,  as  it  were,  by  a  thread  over 
his  neck.  Yet  his  magnanimity  stands  out  in  bright 
contrast  with  even  the  best  and  greatest  of  these.  He  does 
not,  like  Cicero,  weary  his  friends  with  complaints  and 
importunities.  He  does  not,  like  Seneca,  fawn  upon  the 
worthless.  He  does  not,  like  Dante,  yield  to  a  brooding 
melancholy.  No  such  gloom  comes  over  him  as  that  which 
fell  on  our  own  great  exiles.  Yet  he  was  more  guiltless  than 
any  of  these,  and  his  sufferings  were  infinitely  more  un- 
merited. Amid  poverty  and  imprisonmenij,  with  the  frown 
of  the  tyrant  bent  on  him,  death  seeming  to  stare  him  in 
the  face,  the  fundamental  note  in  the  many-toned  music  of 
his  letter  is  the  note  of  joy.  He  recalls  to  our  minds  the 
runner  who,  at  the  supreme  moment  of  Grecian  history, 
brought  to  Athens  the  news  of  Marathon.  Worn,  panting, 
exhausted  with  the  effort  to  be  the  herald  of  deliverance,  he 
sank  in  death  on  the  threshold  of  the  first  house  which  he 
reached  with  the  tidings  of  victory,  and  sighed  forth  his 
gallant  soul  in  one  great  sob,  almost  in  the  very  same  words 
as  those  used  by  the  Apostle,  '^alpere,  'xalpoiiev,  "  Rejoice 
ye,  we  too  rejoice  ! "  The  whole  letter  bears  "  the  impress,  at 
times  almost  elegiac,  of  resignation  in  view  of  death  with 
high  apostolic  dignity,  unbroken  holy  joy,  hope,  and  victory 
over  the  world."  ^  Here  at  least  is  one  grand  example  for  us 
all  to  follow,  one  glorious  lesson  for  us  all  to  learn.  Let  us 
tiy  to  attain  to  the  secret  of  this  peace  which  is  like  the  deep 
peace  in  the  heart  of  ocean  in  spite  of  all  its  surface  agita- 
tions. Let  us  try  to  catch  this  glowing  spirit  which,  even  in 
the  midst  of  sorrow,  gives  to  the  Christian  a  pure  and 
incommunicable  joy.  Amid  the  gloom,  amid  the  vapours  of 
the  charnel  house,  let  our  heavenly  hope  be  still  "  Like  the 
lone  lamp  which  trembles  in  the  tomb."     They  talk  of  the 

^  Jleycr. 

X 


306  The  Epistles. 

pHiLippiANs.  depression   of  tlie  age.     Pessimism  is   becoming  a   popular 

philosophy.     In  its  luxury,  and  in  its  struggles,  and  in  its 

sensuality,  and  in  its  very  successes,  the  age  is  sad.     We 

deserve  and  we  receive  the  punishment  of  those  whom  the 

great  Italian  poet  described  as  duly  punished  for  this  guilt, 

since — 

"  Once  wc  were  sad 
In  tlie  sweet  air  made  gladsome  by  the  sun, 
Now  in  this  mirky  darkness,  we  are  sad." 

But  the  inward  joy  of  the  Christian,  if  brightest  in  the 
sunshine,  is  unquenched  even  by  the  storm.  [^The  true 
Christian,  the  perfect  Christian,  the  saint  of  God,  can  be 
glad  even  in  adversity,  and  rich  in  poverty,  and  calm  in  the 
prospect  of  death,  J  Why  ?  Because  he  has  a  freedom  which 
no  fetters  can  coerce,  and  a  treasure  which  makes  as  nothing 
the  loss  of  all ;  and  because  death,  which  guilty  men  regard 
as  the  most  awful  of  penalties,  is  to  him  the  sleep  which 
God  sends  to  His  beloved  when  their  day's  work  is  done. 
St.  Paul  stood  on  a  rock  which  no  lightning  could  shatter,  no 
billow  shake.  He  stood  high  above  the  need  of  riches,  above 
the  dread  of  enemies.  In  a  sense  infinitely  truer  than  the 
vaunt  of  the  Stoic,  he  superabounded  on  the  verge  of  hunger ; 
lie  was  a  king  in  the  slave's  dungeon  ;  in  the  midst  of  deser- 
tion he  had  many  friends.  "  Hath  he  not  always  treasures, 
always  friends  " — the  holy  Christian  man  ?     Yes ! 

"  Three  treasures,  life,  and  light, 
And  calm  thoughts,  regular  as  infant's  breath, 
And  three  firm  friends,  more  sure  than  day  and  night, 
Himself,  his  Maker,  and  the  angel  Death." 


Outline  of  the  Epistle.  307 


NOTE  I. 

OUTLINE   OF  THE   EPISTLE. 

1.  Greeting,     i.  1,  2. 

2.  Thanksgiving  and  prayer,     i.  3-11. 

3.  Personal  details,  and  messages,  and  thanks  (i.  12-26  ;  ii.   17-30  ; 
iv.  10-19). 

4.  Exhortations  to  unity  (i.  27- ii.  16  ;  iv.  1-9). 

5.  Digression    and    warning    concerning    false     Judaising    teachers 
(iii.  2-21). 

6.  Doxology,  salutations,  and  blessing  (iv.  20-23). 


The  letter  is  the  least  systematic  of  all  the  Epistles,  but  it  contains 
several  very  striking  and  beautiful  passages.     Such  are — 

i.  19-26.     The  doubt  respecting  the  choice  of  life  or  death. 

ii.  5-11.  The  appeal  to  the  example  of  Christ,  in  His  "inanition" 
{kenosis)  which  was  followed  by  exaltation. 

iii.  7-11.     His  readiness  to  sacrifice  everything  for  Christ. 

iv.  12-16.     His  continued  sense  of  imperfection. 


As  regards  the  phraseology  of  the  Epistle  we  may  notice  the 
expressions — - 

iv.  8.  If  there  be  any  virtue.  This  is  the  only  place  where  the  word 
apeTT]  occurs  in  St.  Paul. 

That  ye  may  approve  the  things  that  are  excellent  (fls  to  SoKtfiu'fetv 
v/uay  ra  8ia(j)epovTi).  Lit.  "  that  ye  may  discriminate  the  tranpcendent," 
i.e.  that  even  in  good  things  you  may  discern  A\'hat  things  are  best. 
Comp.  Rom.  ii.  8. 

i.  13.  Ill  all  the  praetorian  camp.  The  residence  of  a  king  or 
governor  might  be  called  a  Praetorium  in  the  Provinces  (Matt,  xxvii. 
27),  but  we  may  be  sure  that  this  term  (properly  "  general's  tent ")  was 
not  used  at  Eome,  where  it  would  have  been  insultingly  suggestive  of  a 
military  despotism. 

i.  25.  /  ahall  hide  and  abide  with  you  all  (fi(va>  koI  avix-n-apafxeva)  ;  the 
play  of  words  is  quite  in  St.  Paul's  manner  (Rom.  i.  28,  29,  30  ;  ii  1  ; 
xii.  3  ;  2  Cor.  iii.  2  ;  vi.  10  ;  vii.  31  ;  xi.  29  ;  2  Cor.  iv.  8,  &c.) 

i.  27.  Live  as  citizens,  worthily  of  the  "  Gospel  of  Christ "  {noKiTeveade 
comp.  7r6KiTevp.a,  iii.  20).  The  Philippians  enjoyed  the  Roman  franchise 
as  St.  Paul  himself  did.  The  substantive  "  citizenship  "  does  not  occur 
again  in  the  New  Testament  ;  the  verb  only  in  Acts  xxiii.  1. 

X  2 


308  The  Epistles. 

ii.  1.  If  there  he  any  tender  mercies  and  compassions.  Tlie  reading  of 
niiarly  all  the  Uncials  is  el  tis  anXdyxva  /cut  oiKTipfioi,  "  if  any  one  be 
tender  mercy  and  compassion."  Tliis  has  been  treated  as  a  mere  clerical 
error,  but  St.  Paul  may  have  written  it  as  he  writes  IvbvaaaOi  anXdyxva. 
Col.  iii.  12. 

ii.  17.  If  I  am  poured  out  upon  tlie  sacrifice  and  offering  of  your  faith. 
The  metaphor  is  taken  from  the  drink-offering  poured  over  a  sacrifice. 
2  Tim.  ii.  6.  Seneca  when  dying  (Tac.  Ann.  xv.  64)  sprinkled  the  by^ 
fitanders  with  his  blood,  saying,  "  Libare  se  liquorem  ilium  Jovi  Libera 
tori."     So  too  Thrasea,  "  Libemus,  inquit,  Jovi  Liberatori."     Id.  xv.  35, 

ii.  19.  Hazarding  his  life.      The  reading  of  the  best  MSS.  is  jrapa^i 
"Ktvcrdfifvos.    The  word  was  technically  used  oi paraholani,  who  as  it  were 
"  played  the  gamblers  "  with  their  lives  in  attending  on  the  sick. 

iii.  1.  Rejoice  in  the  Lord.  The  word  ^a'pfe  means  both  "  farewell," 
and  "  fare  ye  well." 

iii.  9.  A  righteousness  which  is  through  faith  in  Christ,  the  righteous- 
ness which  is  of  God  by  faith  (Sta  Trio-Teas  ...  ex  Qeov  .  .  .  eVt  rfj 
TTt'o-T-fi),  i.e.  a  righteousness  by  means  of  faith,  coming  from  God,  based  on 
faith. 

iv.  10.  Ye  have  revived  your  thought  for  me  (dvedaXfre  to  vnep 
ifioii  (ppovuv).  Lit.  "Ye  bloomed  again  to  think  on  my  behalf."  Here 
the  A.V.  keeps  the  metaphor  "your  care  for  me  hath  flourished  again." 
It  was  a  "  fresh  springlike  outburst "  of  old  kindness. 

ii.  25.  Your  messenger.  ("Apostle"  in  the  lower  and  untechnical 
sense  of  the  word.     2  Cor.  viiL  23.) 

iii.  21.  Our  vile  body.  Happily  this  is,  in  the  A.V.,  a  mistranslation 
of  TO  (Toifia  Trjv  Taneivaaeccs  Tjpan;  "  the  body  of  our  humiliation." 
Scripture  nowhere  sanctions  the  Manichean  notion  of  the  vileness  of  the 
body  or  the  inherent  evil  of  matter. 

iv.  5.  Let  your  moderation  be  known  unto  all  men  (vixdiv  to  enitiKes). 
Eather  your  "  courtesy,"  Tyndale  ;  modestia,  Vulg.  ;  "  softness," 
Cranmer  ;  "  your  reasonableness." 

iv.  7.  The  peace  of  God  shall  guard  your  hearts.  God's  peace  shall 
Btand  armed— shall  keep  sentry  over  {'^povpriaei)  your  hearts. 

iv.  12.  I  have  learned.  Rather,  "  I  have  been  initiated,"  "  I  have 
learnt  the  secret "  (pepvrjpai). 


THE  EPISTLE  TO  THE  COLOSSIANS. 

WRITTEN   DURING   THE   FIRST   ROMAN   IMPRISONMENT. 
ABOUT  A.D.    63. 


"Christ  all  in  all." 
Per  Me  venitur,  ad  Me  pervenitiir,  in  Me  permanetur." — Aug.  In  Joann. 


''Ev  avTtfi  TrepiiraTelTe.    In  eo  ambulate;  in  illo  solo.     Hie  Epistola  scopua 
est." — Ben  GEL. 


Walk  in  Him." — Col.  ii.  6. 


St.  Paul's  EpLstles — as  we  have  already  had  occasion  to  colossians. 
observe — generally  grew  out  of  what  (in  ordinary  language) 
would  be  called  "  accidental  circumstances."  To  the  Christian, 
however,  there  is  no  such  thing  as  "  chance "  or  "  accident." 
Even  the  word  Tv^v  does  not  once  occur  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. It  is  therefore  only  with  the  limitations  which  every 
Christian  can  supply  for  himself  that  the  Apostle's  writings 
can  be  called,  in  the  phrase  of  a  French  writer,  "  des  (Merits  de 
circonstance" 

It  is,  however,  perfectly  true  that  he  never  seems  to  have 
written  without  some  express  reason  or  immediate  occasion 
for  doing  so.  Of  the  four  letters  despatched  during  his  three 
years'  imprisonment,  the  letter  to  the  Philippians  was  caused 
by  the  arrival  of  Epaphroditus  from  Philippi  with  a  jDecuniary 
gift.  The  letter  to  Philemon  was  written  to  secure  a  kindly 
reception  for  a  runaway  slave.  The  letter  to  the  Ephesians 
and  Colossians  rose  out  of  the  visit  of  Epaphras,  a  Colossian 


310  The  Epistles. 

coLossiAxs.  presbyter,  -who  came  to  St.  Paul  at  Rome,  and  whom  he  calls 
his  "  dear  fellow  servant,"  and  "  fellow  prisoner." 

St.  Paul  says  that  the  Colossians  had  never  "  seen  his  face 
in  the  flesh."  But  he  felt  a  deep  interest  in  them,  and  the 
news  which  Epaphras  brought  of  their  condition  was  so 
strange  and  serious  that  he  felt  himself  impelled  to  write  to 
them,  in  order,  if  possible,  to  prevent  irreparable  mischief. 

Among  the  tributaries  of  the  Maeander  in  Asia  Minor  is 
the  river  Lycus,  a  river  which,  like  the  Anio,  clothes  its  bed 
and  valley  with  calcareous  deposits,  and  forms  for  itself  natural 
bridges  of  gleaming  travertine,  of  which  the  fantastic  effect 
is  increased  by  the  earthquakes  to  which  this  region  has  been 
peculiarly  liable.  On  the  banks  of  this  strange  river  were  three 
populous  cities,  Hicrapolis,  Laodicea  and  Colossae.  Hierapolis 
is  famous  as  the  birthplace  of  Ej^ictetus,  whose  moral  teaching 
is  the  fairest  flower  of  heathen  philosophy ;  and  as  the  See  of 
Papias,  whose  writings  were  of  much  importance  to  the  early 
Church.  Laodicea,  wealthy  and  magnificent,  Avas  the  oldest  and 
least  faithful  of  the  Seven  Churches  of  the  Apocalypse, 
Colossae,  or  (as  the  name  appears  on  coins  and  inscriptions) 
Colassae,  afterwards  called  Chonos,  was  an  ancient  but 
dwindling  township,  "  the  least  important  to  which  any 
letter  of  St.  Paul  is  addressed."  ^ 

Although  he  was  within  such  easy  reach  of  these  three 
interesting  cities,  St.  Paul,  strange  to  say,  had  never  visited 
them  during  his  long  residence  at  Ephesus.^  Perhaps  his 
labours  "  night  and  day "  among  his  Ephesian  converts  had 
detained  him  almost  exclusively  in  the  great  city  of  Artemis. 
Yet,  indirectly,  he  had  become  the  founder  of  the  Churches 
of  the  Lycus.  For  among  his  hearers  at  Ephesus  had  been 
Philemon,  and  Epaphras  of  Colossae,  and  Nymphas  of  Lao- 
dicea ;  and  they,  acting  on  the  grand  priuciiale  that  every 
Christian  is  God's  missionary,  seem  to  have  founded  these 

^  In  the  days  of  Herodotus  (vii.  20)  and  Xenophon  [Anah.  i.  2,  §  6)  it 
had  been  great  and  flourishing.  In  the  days  of  Strabo  it  had  sunk  into  a 
it6\urim  (xii.  17). 

»  Col.  ii.  1. 


The  Colossian  Heresy.  311 

daughter  Churches  of  the  Ionian  metropolis.^  St.  Paul  was  colossians. 
writing  on  a  private  matter  to  the  Colossian  Philemon.  He 
took  the  opportunity  of  addressing  the  Church  of  that  place 
and  the  Churches  in  the  more  splendid  neighbour-cities  which 
were  in  the  same  valley,  and  within  easy  reach  of  each  other. 
He  was  all  the  more  eager  to  seize  this  opportunity  because 
Epaphras  brought  with  him  the  disturbing  tidings  that  the 
germs  of  a  new  heresy  were  there  springing  into  life. 

This  heresy — new  yet  old,  local  yet  universal — was  but 
another  of  the  Protean  forms  assumed  by  the  eternal 
gravitation  to  erroneous  extremes.  In  outward  features  it 
differed  from  that  tendency  to  apostatise  into  Judaism,  from 
which  St.  Paul  had  finally  saved  the  Church  by  his  Epistles 
to  the  Galatians  and  Romans,  nor  was  it  mixed  uj)  with 
that  personal  antagonism  which  adds  so  much  additional 
sting  and  bitterness  to  his  previous  controversies.  It  was 
more  insidious,  but  less  violent.  It  was  an  incipient  form  of 
those  dangerous  and  inflating  heresies — bred  in  the  decay  and 
the  ferment  of  new  faiths,  and  mixture  of  old  creeds — which 
were  soon  to  be  known  under  the  name  of  Gnosticism. 

The  strange  district,  "  sombre  and  melancholy,"  rent  by 
earthquakes,  and  ''  burnt  up,  or  rather  incinerated  by  volcanic 
catastrophes,"  seemed  to  invite  its  inhabitants  to  a  dreamy 
mysticism.  Their  religiosity  was  full  of  formalism  and  fear. 
It  may  have  sprung  up  among  Jewish  Essenes,  influenced  by 
subtle  Asiatic  speculations.^  It  was  a  mixture  of  ascetic 
practices  and  dreamy  imaginations.  It  combined  a  crude 
theosophy  with  a  hard  discipline  and  an  elaborate  ritual.  It 
made  much  of  meats,  and  drinks,  and  new  moons,  and 
sabbaths.  It  laid  down  valueless  rules  of  "  Touch  not,  taste 
not,  handle  not."  While  professing  to  debase  the  body  with 
hard  mortification,  it  was  no  real  remedy  for  self-indulgence. 

^  The  true  reading  of  i.  7  is  vir'kp  tjixwv.  Epaphras  had  been  a  missionary 
to  these  cities  on  Paul's  behalf. 

2  On  the  Colossian  heretics,  see  Bishop  Lightfoot's  Essay  in  his  edition  of 
the  Epistle,  and  an  excellent  note  of  Nitzsch  in  Bleek's  Einlcitung,  §  163. 
Vorlcsungen,  pp.  15-17- 


312  The  Ejoistlcs. 

coLossiANs.  Under  the  guise  of  a  voluntary  humility,  it  concealed  an  ex- 
travagant pride.  But  worse  than  this,  being  tainted  with 
the  heresy  that  evil  resides  in  matter,  and  therefore  that  the 
body  is  essentially  and  inherently  vile,  the  adherents  of  this 
perverted  doctrine  were  perhaps  led  to  hint  at  some  distinc- 
tion between  the  human  Jesus  and  the  divine  Christ.  They 
were  certainly  trying  to  thrust  all  kinds  of  intermediate 
agencies,  especially  angels,  between  the  soul  and  God.  Such 
were  the  crafty  errors — swiftly  germinating  in  the  "loose 
fertility"  of  the  Asiatic  intellect — which  St.  Paul  had  to 
combat  in  writing  to  Christians,  of  whom  the  majority  were 
personal  strangers  to  himself.  He  met  them,  not  by  indignant 
controversy,  for  as  yet  these  errors  were  only  undeveloped ; 
nor  by  personal  authority,  for  tliese  Christians  were  not  his 
converts ;  but  by  the  noblest  of  all  forms  of  controversy, 
which  is  the  pure  presentation  of  counter  truths.  To  a 
cumbrous  ritualism  he  opposes  a  spiritual  service ;  to  inflating 
speculations  a  sublime  reality ;  to  hampering  ordinances  a 
manly  self-discipline ;  to  esoteric  exclusiveness  a  universal 
Gospel ;  to  theological  cliques  an  equal  brotherhood ;  to  barren 
systems  a  new  life,  a  new  impulse,  a  religion  of  the  heart. 

But  most  of  all,  he  adopts  the  one  best  way  of  meeting 
the  aberrations  of  Christianity,  which  is  to  lead  back  the  soul 
to  Christ.  Already  to  the  Thessalonians  he  had  spoken  of 
Christ  as  the  Judge  of  quick  and  dead ;  to  the  Corinthians  as 
the  Invisible  Head  and  Ruler  of  the  Church ;  to  the 
Galatians  as  the  breaker  of  the  yoke  of  spiritual  bondage ; 
to  the  Romans  as  the  Deliverer  from  sin  and  death.  He 
had  now  to  develop  a  new  truth  more  nearly  akin  to  that  revela- 
tion of  Christ  which  we  find  in  St.  John.  He  has  to  set 
Christ  forth  as  the  eternal  and  yet  Incarnate  Word ;  as  the 
Redeemer  of  the  universe;  as  the  Lord  of  matter,  no  less 
than  of  spirit ;  as  one  who,  being  the  fulness  of  God's  per- 
fections, is  the  only  Mediator,  the  only  Potentate,  the  sole 
source  of  life  to  all  the  world.  The  sum,  the  whole  scope  of 
the  Epistle  to  the  Colossians  is  that  Christ  is  the  Plcroma — 


Style.  313 

the  Plenitude — at  once  the  brimmed  receptacle  and  the  total  colossians. 
contents  of  all  the  gifts  and  attributes  of  God ;  Christ  is  all 
in  all ;  walk  in  Him  and  in  Him  alone. 

The  style  of  the  Epistle  is  somewhat  laboured.  It  lacks 
the  spontaneity,  the  fire,  the  passion,  the  tender  emotion, 
which  mark  most  of  St.  Paul's  Epistles.  The  reason  for 
this  is  twofold.  It  is  partly  because  he  is  addressing  strangers, 
the  members  of  Churches  which  he  had  not  directly  founded, 
and  to  whom  his  expressions  did  not  flow  forth  from  the  same 
full  spring  of  intimate  affection.     It  is  still  more  because  he  y 

is  refuting  errors  with  which  he  was  not  familiar,  and  which 
he  had  not  witnessed  in  their  direct  immediate  workings. 
He  had  only  heard  of  these  errors  secondhand.  He  only 
understood  so  much  of  their  nature  as  Epaphras  had  set 
before  him  in  his  Koman  prison.  In  dealing  with  them  he 
was  engaged  uj^on  a  new  theme.  "When  he  was  a  little  more 
familiarised  with  the  theme — when  he  is  w^riting  of  it  a  second 
time  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  and  when  he  is  addressing 
converts  whom  he  had  personally  won  to  Christ — he  writes 
with  more  fervency  and  ease.  The  difference  between  the 
Epistles  is  analogous  to  that  between  the  Epistles  to  the 
Galatians  and  the  Romans.  In  the  close  similarity  between 
the  letters  to  Ephesus  and  Colossae,  and  yet  in  the  strongly 
marked  individuality  of  each,  we  have  one  of  the  most 
indisputable  proofs  of  the  genuineness  of  both.  The  two  are 
different,  but  each  has  its  own  greatness.  If  this  Epistle  has 
less  of  the  attractive  personal  element,  and  the  winning 
pathos  of  other  letters  of  St.  Paul,  it  is  still  living,  terse, 
solid,  manly,  vigorous ;  and  brief  though  it  be,  it  still,  as 
Calvin  says,  contains  the  nucleus  of  the  Gospel. 

It  falls  into  five  well-marked  sections  :  the  introduction,  and 
the  doctrinal,  the  polemic,  the  practical,  the  personal  sections. 
1.  After  a  brief  greeting  (i.  1,  2),  the  Apostle  utters  a  full 
thanksgiving  to  God  for  the  faith,  and  love,  and  fruitfulness, 
which  sprang  from  their  hope  of  heavenly  blessedness 
(i.  3-8).     Ho  then  tells  them  of   his  ceaseless  prayers  for 


314  The  Ejnstles. 

coLossiANs.  them,  that  they  may  be  jfilled  with  full  knowledge  and 
spiritual  understanding,  still  bearing  fresh  fruit,  and  being 
strengthened  with  fresh  power,  and  perpetually  giving  thanks 
to  God,  who  rescued  us  from  the  power  of  darkness,  and 
qualified  us  for  our  share  of  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in 
light,  and  transferred  us  into  the  kingdom  of  the  Son  of  His 
love,  in  whom  we  have  our  redemption,  the  remission  of  our 
sins  (1-13). 

2.  This  leads  him  gradually  to  the  great  doctrinal  passage 
respecting  the  nature  and  office  of  Christ,  as  supreme  alike 
in  relation  to  the  Universe  and  to  the  Church,  alike  in  the 
natural  and  in  the  moral  creation  (ii.  15-17),  It  is  this 
passage  which  constitutes  the  theological  germ  of  the  Epistle, 
and  stamps  it  pre-eminently  as  the  Christological  Epistle,  In 
the  following  verses  St,  Paul  characteristically  dwells  on  the 
thoughts  at  once  exalting  and  humiliating,  that  the  full^ 
absolute,  and  universal  revelation  of  this  long-hidden  mystery 
should  have  been  intrusted  to  him;  and  he  expresses  his 
earnest  desire  that  the  Churches  of  the  Lycus  valley,  though 
they  had  not  seen  his  face  in  the  flesh,  may  be  helped  by  him 
to  the  full  knowledge  of  that  mystery  of  God,  which  is 
Christ,  in  whom  are  hidden  all  the  treasures  of  wisdom  and 
knowledge,  to  be  by  us  sought  for  and  enjoyed  (i.  11 ;  ii.  3). 
His  object  in  writing  is  that  they  may  be  founded  and  firm  in 
their  faith,  like  pillars  and  temples  which  are  exempt  from 
the  earthquake-shocks,^  of  which  they  saw  the  temble  traces 
on  every  side,  and  which  at  last  shook  their  city  into  the  dust. 

3,  From  this  he  passes  to  the  direct  polemic  against  the 
encroachments  of  the  error  by  which  the  letter  had  been 
occasioned  (ii.  4-iii.  4).  There  was  (he  implies)  at  Colossae  a 
certain  Essene  mystic,  whom  he  will  not  name,  who,  with  his 
seductive  plausibility ,2  was  making  a  prey  of  them  by  a  so- 
called  "  philosophy,"  which  was  nothing  else  but  vain  deceit 

*  i.  23,  fi)]  ixfraKivovfievoi,  "  not  earthquake-shaken." 

'  ii.  8,  6  vfiiis  ffv\ayc»ywv  5io  rrjs  <pi\o(To(pias.  ii.  4,  fiii  ris  iV"S  iraoa- 
AoyiCv'''^'  ^v  wtdauoXoyi!}, 


Moral  Applications.  315 

iu  accordance  with  human  traditions  and  earthly  rudiments,  colossians. 

not  in  accordance  with  Christ,     After  exposing  the  special 

errors  which  this  man  was  trying  to  inculcate  (ii.  4 — 23),  he 

shows  them,  in  a  powerful  passage,  that  the  true  remedy  for 

carnal  temptations  was  to  be  found  in  thoughts  and  practices 

far  different  from  the  worrying  scrupulosities  of  ceremonialism 

and  asceticism  (iii.  1 — 4). 

4.  Leaving  the  regions  of  doctrine  and  controversy  he 
passes  to  the  direct  moral  applications  of  the  practical  part  of 
his  letter.  This  consists  partly  of  general  (iii.  5 — 17),  partly 
of  special  precepts  (iii.  18 ;  iv.  6).  As  general  precepts  he 
bids  them  slay  at  a  blow  ^  by  the  new  life  which  is  in  Christ, 
and  which  -is  Christ,  the  sensual  passions  of  their  heathen 
past,  together  with  all  the  hatred  and  falsehood  of  the  old 
man  with  his  deeds,  and  to  put  on  at  once  the  new  man,  who 
is  being  ever  renewed  to  full  knowledge  according  to  the 
imago  of  the  creator  in  that  region  where  all  earthly  distinc- 
tions are  done  away.  Above  all,  love,  in  all  its  forms,  is  to  be 
a  part  of  this  new  being,  and  peace  and  spiritual  fervour  are 
to  dominate  in  all  their  words  and  deeds  (iii.  5 — 17).  Passing 
to  special  precepts,^  he  has  a  word  of  exhortation  for  women, 
for  men,  for  children,  for  fathers.  Thinking  perhaps  of 
Onesimus  and  Philemon,  he  impresses  faithfulness  on  slaves, 
and  justice  on  masters.  He  urges  on  them  the  duty  of  earnest 
and  constant  supplication,  and  specially  asks  their  prayers  on 
behalf  of  his  own  labours  in  the  Gospel.  He  further  bids 
them  walk  in  wisdom,  earnestness,  and  holiness  of  speech. 

5.  The  rest  of  the  letter  is  personal  (iv.  7 — 17).  Tychicus 
the  bearer  of  the  letter,  and  their  fellow  townsman  Onesimus 
would  tell  them  all  about  him.  He  sends  them  greetings 
from  Aristarchus  his  fellow  captive,  Mark  the  cousin  of 
Barnabas,  and  Jesus  Justus,  his  Jewish  comforters  and  fellow 
workers.      Their  pastor  Epaphras,  Luke  the  physician,  the 

'  iii.  5.  NeK-ptofrare  ...  8.  airoditree.  All  that  v;.as  evil  was  to  be  blown  up 
at  once,  but  all  good  habits  were  to  be  continually  built  up. 

*  These  are  all  in  the  present  imperative,  implying  continuous  duties. 


SIG  The  Epistles. 

coLossiANs.  beloved,  and  Dcmas — about  whom  there  is  a  somewhat 
ominous  reticence — greet  them.  They  are  to  salute  the 
Laodicean  Christians  and  Nymphas  and  his  friends,  and  to 
see  that  this  letter  and  the  one  which  he  is  writing  to  Laodicea 
be  interchanged  and  read  in  both  Churches.^  Archippus, 
perhaps  the  son  of  Philemon  and  chief  pastor  of  Laodicea, 
is  to  be  stirred  up  to  more  earnest  efforts. 

The  letter  closes  with  the  brief  autographic  salutation  of 
St.  Paul,  in  that  shorter  form — "  Grace  be  with  you" — which 
is  characteristic  of  his  later  Epistles.  But  St.  Paul 
rarely  wrote  even  a  single  paragraph  without  adding 
some  individual  touch,  and  here  he  inserts  the  pathetic  words 
"  Remember  my  bonds."  Perhaps  as  he  rose  to  take  the 
reed  from  his  amanuensis — Timothy  or  Tychicus — the 
coupling-bond  which  bound  him  by  the  wrist  to  the  Praetorian 
soldier  clanked  upon  the  floor,  and  he  was  reminded  (as  when 
he  wrote  to  Philemon)  that  he  presents  the  strange  anomaly 
of  "  an  ambassador  in  a  chain." 

Even  in  the  dust  of  St.  Paul's  writings  there  is  gold,  and 
there  is  not  a  single  clause  of  this  Epistle  Avhich  has  not  its 
own  beauty,  value,  or  interest.  Clearly  however  the  two  most 
specific  and  important  passages  are  the  Doctrinal  and  the 
Polemical — in  which  combined  he  presents  the  loftiest 
possible  Christology  as  the  only  effectual  counterpoise,  both 
morally  and  intellectually,  to  Gnostic  error. 

Let  us  glance  at  these  two  passages. 

I.  In  the  first  (i.  19 — ii.  3),  after  thanking  God  for  the 
redemption  and  remission  of  sins  wrought  by  the  Son  of  His 
Love,  he  proceeds  to  set  forth  Christ  in  His  unmistakable, 
unapproachable,  eternal  divinity.  In  relation  to  God  He 
is  God's  image,  alike  His  representation  and  manifesta- 
tion.   In  relation  to  the  Universe  He  is  the  Mediator  between 

'  It  is  C!ill«(l  tV  ^li  AaoSiKeias  Localise  it  would  come  to  Colossae  from 
Laodicea,  which  was  lower  down  the  Lycus  valley  nearer  to  Ephesus.  The 
"  Laodicean"  letter  is  probably  the  circular  letter  to  "the  Ephesians."  The 
extant  letter  "  to  the  Laodiccans  "  is  a  spurious  and  vahudcss  cento  of  Pauline 
phrases. 


Christology.  317 

God  and  all  created  things,  being  ijvior  to  all  creation,  and  colossians. 

sovereign  over  all  creation.      Mystic  dreamers  might  invent 

Angelologies,  and  thrust  intermediate  agencies  between  man 

and  God,  thus  interfering  with  man's  most  blessed  privilege 

of  immediate  access ;  but  Christ  is  all  in  all.     All  things — 

in   heaven   and    on    earth,    visible    and    invisible — whether 

"  thrones,"  or  "  lordships,"  or  "  princijialities,"  or  "  powers," — • 

all  things  were  created  {eKriadrj)  by  His  agency ;  all  things 

continue  their  being  (eKTio-rac)  with  reference  to  Him ;  His 

divine  prae-existence  {avTo<i  ecnv)  precedes  all  things,  and 

in  Him  as  the  band  of  the  universe  all  things  cohere.     Such 

is  His  relation  to  God,  and  to  all  the  natural  Universe.     The 

constant  repetition  of  the  words  "all  things"  ^  shows  with  what 

absolute  jealousy  St.  Paul  would  exclude  His  universality  of 

pre-eminence  from  every  encroachment,  whether  of  Angels 

or  of  ^ons.2     However  great  they  may  be  in  themselves 

"thrones,   dominations,    virtues,    princedoms,    powers,"    are 

nothing  in  respect  to  His  all-completeness.     St.  Paul  will 

hear  of  none  but 

"Him  first,  Him  last,  Him  midst,  and  without  end."^ 

For,  being  thus  in  Himself,  what  is  He  to  the  Church  ?  Tlie 
Church  is  the  body  of  which  He  is  the  Head.  He  is  the 
Beginning,  the  Firstborn  from  the  dead,  the  presiding  power 
in  all  things,  because  God  thought  good  that  in  Him  the 
whole  Plenitude — the  totality  of  the  divine  attributes  and 
agencies — should  take  its  dwelling.  "  In  Him,"  he  adds  a 
little  later  on — in  a  passage  which  is  the  nearest  approach  of 
any  other  writer  to  St.  John's  "  the  Word  became  flesh  " — "  in 
Him  resides  *  all  the  Plenitude  of  Godhead  bodily."  The 
human  Jesus  is  one  with  the  Eternal  Christ. 

But  if  He  be  so  immense,  if  He  be  the  Consummation, 

^  TraiTTjs  Kriaeoss,  15.    ranoivTa  .  .  ra  iravra,  16.  irph  TravTwu  ,  .  ra  iravra,  17. 

2  The  Valentinians,  according  to  Ireuaeus  [Haer.  i.  4,  §  5),  talked  not  only  of 
"thrones"  and  "lordsliips,"  but  even  of  "godsliips"  (06o't?)t6s).  St.  Paul 
lias  already  warned  the  Colossians  in  this  Epistle  that  the  plenitude  of 
Godship  is  in  Christ. 

•»  Col.  i.  15-17. 

*  KOToi/ce?.     St.  John  uses  the  word  faicrtfuaev  (i.  14). 


818  The  EiHstlcs. 

coLossiANs.  the  Fulfilment,  the  Pleronica,  if  He  be  what  the  Jewish 
thcosophists  called  "  the  Place  " — (Makom) — the  Uuiverse, 
of  which  they  said  "God  is  not  the  Makom,  but  all  the 
Makom  is  in  God"  — there  was  an  obvious  danger  that 
speculating  errorists  might  try  to  disunite  Jesus — to  separate 
the  human,  the  suffering  Jesus  from  the  Divine,  Eternal 
Son.  St.  Paul  at  once  guards  against  such  heresies  by  adding 
that  it  was  also  God's  will  by  His  means  to  reconcile  all 
things  to  Himself,  making  peace  by  the  blood  of  His  cross. 
St.  Paul  does  not  shrink  from  a  juxtaposition  of  these  two 
words — the  Supreme,  the  Pleroma  on  the  one  hand,  who  is 
the  summit  of  all  exaltation,  and  on  the  other  the  lowest 
depths  of  the  most  abysmal  degradation,  the  gibbet  of  a 
malefactor's  shame.  He  therefore  emphatically  repeats  the 
words  that  "  By  Him "  God  thus  reconciled  all  things  to 
Himself — yea,  by  His  cross — whether  the  things  on  earth  or 
even  those  in  the  heavens  (i.  15 — 20).  And  having  thus 
compressed  into  a  few  lines  the  description  of  Christ's  work 
generally,  he  proceeds  to  speak  of  His  work  specially  for  the 
redeemed  Colossians  (21,  22),  if  only  they  abide  in  the  faith, 
and  are  not  shaken  away  from  the  moorings  of  their  hope. 

This  is  the  mystery — the  truth  long  hidden  now 
revealed — of  the  wealth  and  glory  of  which  St.  Paul  became 
a  steward  and  a  minister,  that  he  might  preach  it,  not  to 
chosen  mystae,  and  not  with  esoteric  reserve,  but  completely 
and  universally,  warning  every  man,  teaching  every  man  in 
all  wisdom,  to  present  every  man,  as  fully  initiated,  to  Christ 
(i.  23— 29).2 

II.  Turning  to  the  polemic  against  the  incipient  heresy 
(ii.  4 — iii.  4)  we  find  from  the  counter  truths  presented  by 
St.  Paul  that— 

^  There  is  clearly  some  analogy  between  the  Makum  of  this  Jewish  proverb 
and  the  Pleroma.  The  Kabbalistic  method  of  Gematria  or  assigning  numerical 
equivalents  to  words  (the  Greek  isopsephia)  aided  this  usage.  For  niH* 
(Jehovah)  =  10  +  5  +  6  +  5  =  26  ;  and  Makdm  =  10-  +  5^  +  6^  +  5'^  = 
186.     See  Philo,  Be  Somn.  i.  p.  575.     Bereshith  Rabba,  §  68. 

^  irdfTa  ivOpanrov,  thrice  repeated,  iy  wdcrjy  aocpi:},  i.  2S.  rixaov,  a  woi-d 
belonging  to  the  Greek  mysturics. 


The  Colossian  Heresiarcli.  319 

The  system  of  the  new  teacher  interfered  with  the 
conception  of  this  supremacy  of  Christ.  He  therefore  re- 
minds them  at  the  outset  not  to  be  plundered  by  an  empty, 
ilhisory  semblance  of  "  philosophy,"  which  was  merely 
traditional  and  worldly,  and  not  according  to  Christ,  since  in 
Christ  abides,  bodily,  the  Plenitude  of  Godhead,  and  they  are 
in  Him,  fulfilled  with  the  plenitude  of  Him  who  is  the  head  of 
every  "principality"  and  "  power,"  Their  beguiling  heresiarch, 
with  his  subtlety  and  intellectualism,  wished  at  once  to 
Judaise  them,  and  to  make  ascetics  of  them.     Thus  : — 

i.  He  tried  to  insinuate  the  meritoriousness  if  not  the 
necessity  of  circumcision.  But  of  what  use  is  external 
circumcision  to  those  who  in  baptism  have  been  buried  with 
Christ,  and  so  have  stripped  off  the  body  of  these  sins  ? 
Spiritually  dead,  spiritually  uncircumcised,  they  had  been 
quickened  into  life,  and  without  circumcision  had  been  freely 
forgiven  all  their  transgressions  by  Christ  (iv,  11 — 13). 

ii.  Again,  the  false  teacher  had  tried  to  reintroduce  Judaic 
ordinances — distinctions  of  clean  and  unclean  food,  feasts 
new  moons.  Sabbaths  (ii.  16). 

But  how  would  these  avail  them  ?  They  were  but  shadows 
of  which  the  substance  is  Christ.  All  that  bond  which  was 
once  valid  against  them  by  its  ordinances — that  "  killing 
letter" — Christ  had  blotted  out,  had  torn,  had  cancelled,  had 
nailed  its  fragments  to  His  cross  (ii.  14 — 17). 

iii.  Further,  there  had  been  an  attempt  to  remove  God  so 
far  away  as  to  render  it  necessary  (a)  to  insert  various  ranks 
of  angels  between  Christ  and  man  ;  and  (/3)  apparently  also 
to  create  a  formidable  demonology. 

As  to  the  latter  (/3) — the  dynasts  of  wickedness — St.  Paul 
says  that  Christ  had  "  stripped  them  away  from  Him,"  that 
He  had,  as  it  were,  torn  Himself  free  from  their  assaults, 
which  would  otherwise  have  clung  to  Him  like  a  robe,^ 
and  had,  in  perfect  confidence,  made  a  show  of  them,  by 
leading  them  in  triumiih  upon  that  same  cross  to  which  He 

'  ii.  15,  axe/cSyca/^eros. 


320  The  Epistles. 

liad  nailed  the  ordinances  of  an  abrogated  bondage.  And  thus 
the  Eternal  Conqueror  had  made  the  gibbet  of  the  slave  the 
fcretrum  of  the  sj^oils  of  spiritual  victory  (ii.  15),^ 

And  (a)  as  to  angels,  no  one,  by  delighting  in  abjectness, 
and  in  service  of  angels,  was  to  snatch  from  them  the  price  of 
their  Christian  calling.  To  do  this  was  to  walk  in  the  airy 
void  of  visions,^  not  on  the  solid  ground  of  truth.  Such  fancies 
sprang  from  the  inflations  of  the  carnal  intelligence,  aided  by 
the  ecstasies  of  an  ill-regulated  asceticism.  They  would  be 
secure  from  such  voluntary  self-humiliation  if  they  held  fast 
to  Him  who  is  the  Head  from  whom  all  the  life  of  the  body 
flows"  (ii.  18,  19).  3 

iv.  Once  more  their  new  teacher  had  tried  to  entrammel 
them  in  the  bonds  of  a  rigid  and  formal  asceticism.  Like 
some  of  the  Rabbis  he  had  laid  down  rules  that  men  should 
only  eat  a  morsel  with  salt,  and  drink  water  by  measure. 
He  had  dogmatised  over  them  ^  as  though  they  were  living 
in  the  world,  not  in  God's  kingdom,  by  such  rules  as  "  Handle 
not,  nor  taste,  nor  even  touch  " — rules  affecting  mere  perish- 
able material  things  which  had  no  connection  with  that 
which  really  defiles,^  and  which  were  of  purely  human  origin 
(ii.  20—23). 

What  had  they  to  do  with  such  unauthorised  bondage  ? 
When,  in  their  baptism,  they  died  and  were  buried  with 
Christ,  did  they  not  die  at  the  same  time  to  all  these  illusory 
scrupulosities  {aKia)  and  mundane  rudiments  (o-Tot;;^era)  ? 
Besides  which,  all  these  regulations  were  useless  for  the  end 
proposed.  They  did  not  in  reality  tend  to  the  mortification 
of  the  evil  passions.     They  were  mere  volunteered  works  of 

^  Id.  Bpian^eiKTas  avrovs  4v  avT(p,  i.e.  in  the  cross. 

^  ii.  18,  a  edpaicev  ifi^anvaiv,  "dwelling  in,"  and  "walking  upon,"  the 
things  which  he  lias  seen  ;  or  as  some  MSS.  read,  "which  he  has  not  seen." 
There  is  some  corruption  or  obsciuity  in  the  words,  but  they  seem  to  allude  to 
visions  real  or  imaginary. 

*  The  adoration  of  angels  was  a  Jewish  (Epiphan.  Hacr.  xxv.  3,  16,  and  a 
fragment  of  the  Kijpvyna  irfrpov)  and  specifically  an  Essene  aberration  (Jos. 
B.  J.  ii.  8,  §  7). 

''  ii.  20,   Ti  .  .  .  Soyfj-aT't^eaOe  ; 

6  Maik  vii.  l-'23. 


The  True  Remedy.  321 

supererogation;  tliey  were  a  needless  ill-usage  of  the  body;  colossians. 
their  asserted  wisdom — their  pretence  that  they  sj^rang  from 
deeper  knowledge  and  higher  holiness — was  mere  assertion. 
Such  oral  traditions  looked  Avell ;  they  wore  a  semblance  of 
humility  and  self-denial,  but  in  reality  they  were  valueless ; 
they  did  not  at  all  avail  to  overcome  the  indulgence  of  fleshly 
impulses. 

We  cannot  but  regret  that,  in  the  original,  the  verse  in 
which  St.  Paul  lays  down  this  weighty  opinion  is  so  difficult 
that  it  has  been  very  little  understood.  Even  in  our 
Authorised  Version  it  was  rendered  in  terms  which  were  in 
part  unintelligible,  and  which  entirely  failed  to  make  clear 
the  lesson  which  they  convey.  Had  their  meaning  been 
better  grasped  many  a  poor  monk  and  anchorite,  tormented 
and  half  maddened  by  emaciation  and  self-torture,  might 
have  been  spared  the  bitter  experience  that  the  virulence  of 
temptation,  so  far  from  being  diminished,  is  intensified  almost 
to  madness  by  morbid  self-introspection  and  unnatural 
asceticism.^ 

When  St.  Paul  has  thus  doctrinally  and  controversially 
pronounced  against  the  tendencies  of  which  Epaphras  had 
informed  him — when  he  had  thus  vindicated  the  supremacy 
of  Christ,  the  universality  of  the  Gospel,  the  freedom  of  Chris- 
tian life,  against  the  mysticising  ecstasies  of  an  ascetic  Jewish 
theosophy — he  proceeds  to  tell  the  Colossians  the  true  remedy 
against  concupiscence.  It  is  heavenly-mindedness.^  They 
were  dead  :  dead  to  the  flesh,  dead  to  passion,  dead  to  their 
old  selves,  dead  to  the  world.  Their  life  has  been  hidden 
with  Christ  in  God.  It  is  a  hidden  life,  a  divine  life,  which 
at  Christ's  manifestation  should  become  a  life  of  manifested 
glory.  Hence  the  Apostle,  in  closing  the  controversial  aspect 
of  the  truths  which  he  desires  to  inculcate,  bids  them  to  strike 

^  Compare  the  remarkable  experiences  of  St  Antony,  St.  Jerome,  Hugo  of 
Avalon,  and  many  others.  The  monkish  commentators  almost  unanimously 
explained  the  "thorn  in  the  flesh  "  to  mean  "carnal  temptations  "— a  fact 
which  speaks  volumes. 

*  iii.  1.  Ta  &vo>  ^rjTeTTe  od  tS  Xpiffrhs.    2.   to  &vcii  (ppovflre  /x^  ra  iirl  rrjs  y^s, 

K.T.\. 

Y 


322  The  Epistles. 

coLossiAxs.  tlead^ — not  by  regulated  ordinances  and  innovating  asceticism, 
but  by  the  power  of  the  new  spiritual  life — tho^e  earthly 
temptations  which  are  perpetually  bringing  the  wrath  of  God 
upon  the  children  of  men.  Thus  the  Epistle  is  a  protest 
against  the  invasion  of  religion  by  superstitions  which  were 
nourished  j)artly  by  Judaisers,  partly  by  oriental  dreamers.^ 

Tlie  rest  of  the  Ejjistle  is  comparatively  simple  and  easy. 
It  consists  of  practical  rules  which  spring  at  once  from  the 
great  doctrinal  truths  which  have  been  laid  down  with  so 
firm  a  hand.  But  the  specific  significance  of  the  Epistle  is 
concentrated  into  the  two  passages  on  which  we  have  been 
dwelling.  It  is  the  Epistle  which  more  fully  and  clearly  than 
any  other  sets  forth  the  supreme  divinity  of  Christ  Jesus. 
It  is  the  Epistle  which  more  decisively  than  any  other  lays 
down  for  us  the  rule  that  it  is  by  union  with  Christ,  not  by 
ceremonial  observances  or  self-mortifying  practices  that  we 
can  win  the  victory  over  the  sinful  impulses  of  our  lower 
nature. 

^  iii.   5,  fJeKpciaare  oZv. 

'  In  the  Acts  \vc  read  of  "magicians  "  (viii.  9  ;  xiii.  8),  cheats  and  quacks 
and  sorcerers  (yS-nres,  2  Tim.  iii.  13)  ;  exorcists  (Acts  xix.  13)  ;  prophets  (xvi. 
16).  The  Golden  Ass  of  Apuleius,  the  story  of  ApoUouius  of  Tyana,  and  of 
Alexander  of  Abonoteichos,  the  constant  references  of  writers  of  that  age  to 
Chaldaeans,  mathematicians,  custera  of  horoscopes,  &;c.,  show  the  prevalence 
of  oriental  superstition. 


Special  Expressions.  323 


NOTE  I.  coLossiANS. 

SOME    SPECIAL    EXPRESSIONS   AND    PASSAGES    IN    THE    EPISTLE. 

Among  the  prominent  words  of  the  Epistle  are  : 

'"''  Bearing  fruit"  (i.  6,  KapirocfxypovjXfvuv.     10,  Kapnocfiopovpres). 

"  Mysieri/,"  i.  27  ;  ii.  2  ;  iv.  3. 

'■'■Full  knoivledge"  (fniyvMais),  i.  9,  10  ;  ii.  2  ;  iii.  10.  In  the  latter 
passage  this  full  knowledge  is  a  characteristic  of  the  new  man.  It  is  a 
discovery  of  the  mysteries  of  Christ,  of  the  treasures  hidden  in  Him. 
It  is  the  wealth  of  the  completeness  of  the  understanding  (ii.  2).  It 
holds  to  the  Head,  and  so  differs  from  the  false  heretical  Gnosis  with  its 
dreams,  and  inflations  and  rituals. 

The  word  "philosopJiij  "  occurs  nowhere  in  the  New  Testament  except 
in  ii.  8  ;  and  then  only  to  express  the  false  system  of  the  Gnosticising 
Essene. 

"  To  be  dogmatised  over  "  occurs  only  in  ii.  20.  "  Dogma  "  in  ii.  20, 
and  in  all  the  other  places  where  it  occurs,  refers  to  Jews,  heathens,  and 
heretics,  in  the  sense  of  "  decree  "  or  "  rule." 

"To  he  umpire"  SiQ.(\.  '■'■  to  decide  against"  (fipa^fva,  Kara^pa^eva)  in 
ii.  18  ;  iii.  15. 

In  i.  23,  "Who  translated  us  into  the  kingdom  of  His  dear  Son," 
(fitTea-TTja-fv)  Bishop  Lightfoot  sees  a  possible  allusion  by  way  of  contrast 
to  the  hateful  and  violent  "translation"  of  2,000  Jewish  families  by 
Antiochus  the  Great,  from  Babylon  into  Lydia  and  Phrygia,  Jos.  Antt. 
xl.  3,  §  4.  The  verb  is  used  for  wholesale  deportations  by  the  LXX. 
2  Kings  xvii.  23  ;  xxiii.  33. 

The  words  full  knoivledge  of  the  mystery  (ii.  2)  ;  and  the  riches  of  the 
glory  of  this  mystery,  i.  27  ;  and  icuUc  in  Him  (ii.  6),  are  keynotes  of 
the  Epistle. 

The  most  remarkable  passages  have  been  explained  in  the  discourse. 

In  i.  24  we  have  a  suggestive  conception  :  "  Now  I  rejoice  in  my 
sufferings  for  your  sake,  and  fill  up  on  my  part  that  lohich  is  lacking 
{ra  v(rrepT]para)  of  the  afflictions  of  Christ  in  my  flesh,  for  His  bod^^'s  sake 
which  is  the  Church." 

We  might  be  startled  by  such  a  phrase  as  "  that  which  is  lacking  in 
the  sufferings  of  Christ,"  and  still  more  at  the  notion  that  any  can 
fill  up  that  which  so  lacks.  But  though  Christ's  death  was  "  a  full,  perfect 
and  sufficient  sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world,"  and  though  no 
human  sufferings  can  be  vicarious  in  the  sense  in  which    His  were,  yet 

Y   2 


324  Tlte  Epistles. 

coLossiANS.  the  sufferings  of  His  saints  may  be  ministrative,  and  thus,  as  continuing 
Christ's  work  on  earth,  they  are  able  personally  to  supplement  in  His 
stead  {dm-amTrXrjpovv),  for  His  Church,  what  is  still  required. 


It  is  curious  that,  in  this  Epistle  alone,  eminently  Christological  as  it 
is,  the  salutation  "  Grace  be  unto  you,  and  peace  from  God  the  Father  " 
is  not  associated  with  the  name  of  Christ,  since  the  following  words 
•'  and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ "  are  omitted  by  the  best  MSS.  On  the 
other  hand  in  iii  15,  the  true  reading  is  "  Let  the  peace  of  Christ "  (not 
*'  of  God,"  as  in  the  A.V.)  "  arbitrate "  ("  be  umpire  "  ^pa^fviru))  "  in 
your  hearts." 


THE  EPISTLE  TO  THE  EPHESIANS. 

WRITTEN   AT   ROME,    A.D.    63. 

"  Nulla  epistola  Pauli  tanta  habet  mysteria  tarn  reconditis  seusibus  involuta.'" 
-Jek.  in  Eph.  iii. 

*'  To  sum  up  all  things  in  Christ."— Eph.  I.  10. 

The  slightest  glance  at  St.  Paul's  letters  shows  us  how  ephesians 
deep  and  varied  were  his  services  to  Christian  truth,  not  only 
by  his  life,  but  even  more,  if  possible,  by  his  writings.  They 
are  a  fountain  from  which  streamed  many  a  deep  and  fertilising 
river.  No  succeeding  teacher  has  been  able  to  understand 
them  in  all  their  fulness,  or  even  duly  to  present  a  single 
part  of  them.  We  have  seen  that  Luther  said  of  the 
Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  "  It  is  my  epistle  ;  it  is  my  wife, 
my  Catherine  von  Bora."  The  learned  and  gentle  Melanch- 
thon,  on  the  other  hand,  founded  his  manual  mainly  on  the 
Epistle  to  the  Romans.  The  stern,  clear-sighted,  logical  Calvin 
follows  in  his  Institutes,  though  in  a  very  different  spirit  and 
with  infinitely  less  of  sweetness  and  tenderness — the  lines 
marked  out  by  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians.  And  these 
three  great  Reformers,  though  so  unlike  each  other,  are  yet 
one  in  heart  and  in  system  ;  and  both  in  their  resemblances 
and  their  differences  they  severally  and  yet  imperfectly 
reflect  the  many-sided  teaching  of  St.  Paul,  as  he  reflected 
what  he  calls  in  this  Epistle  the  many-coloured — the  richly- 
variegated — wisdom  of  God.^ 

'  Eph.  iii.  10,  ^  itoKvnolKiKos  crocpla  rod  ®eov,     Comp.  woikIKi]  X*/"*,  1  Pet. 
iv.  10. 


F.PHESIANS. 


326  The  Epistles. 

1.  There  was  in  St.  Paul's  mind  a  peculiar  sensibility. 
He  -was  susceptible  to  every  sjiiritual  influence.  Montanus 
compared  the  soul  of  man  to  a  lyre,  struck  by  the  j)/cc/r2M?i 
of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  soul  of  St.  Paul  was  sucli  a  harp — a 
harp  of  infinite  delicacy  and  yet  with  vast  compass  of  music. 
When  once  it  was  touched  by  the  light  and  breeze  of  lieaven 
it  answered,  now  in  thundering  reverberations  like  the 
Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  and  now  in  soft  trembling  notes,  like 
those  to  the  Pliilippians  or  Philemon.  And  the  strings  of  that 
cx(|uisite  instrument,  when  once  stirred,  continued  long  to 
vibrate.  Each  chord,  if  ever  so  ligbtly  touched,  continued 
thrilling  with  the  touch.  In  minor  details  we  notice  this  in 
the  way  in  which  St.  Paul  is  haunted  and  taken  possession  of 
by  single  words  and  dominant  conceptions,  each  lasting  till  its 
full  force  is  spent.  We  notice  it  still  more  in  the  influence 
exercised  by  one  Epistle  over  another.  The  echo  of  the 
Galatians  continues  to  resound  in  Romans,  and  only  trembles 
into  silence  in  Pliilippians.  The  echo  of  Colossians  is  still 
heard  quivering  through  eVdry  chord  of  Ephesians.  There 
could  be  no  stronger  jiroof  of  the  genuineness  of  these  two 
Epistles,  eagerly  as  it  has  been  disputed,  than  their  likeness 
to  each  other  in  the  midst  of  unlikeness.  To  change  the 
metaphor,  they  are  twin  sisters  of  close  resemblance  yet 
marked  individuality,  whose  faces,  alike  yet  different,  can  only 
be  explained  by  their  common  parentage.  They  resemble 
each  other  in  general  stmcture — one  half  of  each  being  theo- 
logical, the  other  half  practical.  They  are  like  each  other 
in  diction.  Seventy-eight  verses  out  of  155  have  the  same 
phrases.  Yet  they  are  unlike.  The  characteristic  phrase, 
"  the  heavenlies  "  which  occurs  five  times  in  Ephesians  does 
not  occur  once  in  Colossians.  Five  sections  in  Ephesians — that 
which  states  tlie  fore-ordained  unity  of  the  redeemed  Uni- 
versal Church  (i.  3 — 14)  ;  that  about  living  in  a  way  worthy 
of  this  ideal  unity  (iv.  5 — 15)  ;  that  which  contrasts  the 
deeds  of  darkness  and  light  (v.  7 — 14) ;  that  about  the 
mystery  of  Christian  marriages  (v.  23 — 33)  ;  and  that  about 


Ejoheskins  and  Colossians.  827 

the  Christian  armour  (vi.  10 — 17),  have  no  parallel  in  ephesians. 
Colossians.  Ephesians  has  seven  Old  Testament  allusions, 
Colossians  has  only  one.  Again,  Colossians  is  brief  and 
logical,  Ephesians  more  lyrical  and  diffuse.  In  Colossians 
St.  Paul  is  the  soldier,  in  Ephesians  the  builder.  Colossians 
is  "his  argument,  his  process,  his  caution;"  Ephesians  is 
instruction  passing  into  prayer,  a  Creed  soaring  into  an 
impassioned  Psalm.  Ephesians  develops  with  magnificent 
generality  the  truths  which  are  directed  in  Colossians  against 
a  special  error.  Once  more,  even  their  fundamental  themes 
though  cognate,  are  not  identical.  In  Colossians  it  is  Christ- 
hood  ;  in  Ephesians  Churchhood.  TJie  topic  of  Colossians  is 
Christ  all  in  all ;  the  topic  of  Ephesians  is  Christ  ascended, 
yet  present  in  His  Church. 

This  union  of  close  resemblance  and  radical  dissimilarity  is 
one  of  the  strong  proofs  of  the  authenticity  of  the  Epistle. 
The  writer  shows  far  too  marked  an  originality  to  allow  of 
the  supposition  that  he  borrowed  from  some  one  else.  Any 
writer  who  was  reduced  to  borrow  could  never  have  been 
capable  of  so  rich  and  independent  an  originality  of  thought 
and  style.^ 

2.  To  many  it  has  seemed  that  in  Ephesians  St.  Paul  is 
at  his  best  and  greatest.  Luther  called  this  Epistle  one  of 
the    noblest   in   the    New    Testament.      Witsius   calls   it   a 

^  The  occurrence  of  two  Epistles  on  almost  the  same  themes,  yet  widelj^  different 
in  details,  is  found  in  the  indisputablj^  genuine  Epistles  to  the  Romans  and  Gala- 
tians.  The  relations  between  those  two  Epistles  are  closely  analogous  to  the 
phenomena  presented  by  Colossians  and  Ephesians.  Galatians  and  Colossians 
are  specific,  impassioned,  and  polemical :  KoTuans  and  Ephesians  are  calm  and 
independent  ccpositions  of  the  truths  involved  in  the  letters  which  had  im- 
mediately preceded  them.  To  speak  with  De  Wette  of  the  "  verbose  expansion  " 
of  the  Ephesians  ;  to  say  with  Schneckenburger  that  it  shows  "a  mechanical 
use  of  materials  ;"  to  speak  with  others  of  the  "colourless  character"  of  this 
Epistle  is  to  be  blind  to  the  most  obvious  phenomena.  And  one  of  the  funda- 
mental weaknesses  of  the  Tubingen  and  other  foreign  schools  of  critics  is  the 
strange  facility  with  which  they  assume  a  multitude  of  "forgers"  equal  or 
even  superior  to  Paul  himself  in  power  and  spiritual  depth,  who,  though  their 
writings  were  transcendently  more  valuable  than  all  the  other  literature  of  the 
second  century,  lived  unheard  of  and  died  unknown  !  Could  one  who  remained  a 
nameless  forger  have  written  in  these  few  pages  a  better  refutation  of  the  essence 
of  Gnosticism,  than  Ireuaeus  in  his  five  books  against  heresy,  and  Hippolytus 
in  his  ten  books  of  Philosophomena,  and  Tertullian  in  his  Scorpiace  combined  ? 


328  The  Ejnstles. 

F.pnEsiANs.  divine  Epistle,  glowing  with  the  flame  of  Christian  love  and 
the  si^lendour  of  holy  light,  and  flowing  with  fountains  of 
living  water.  Alford  calls  it  "  the  most  heavenly  work  of 
one  whose  very  imagination  is  peopled  with  things  in  the 
heavens,  and  even  his  fancy  rapt  into  the  visions  of  God." 
Coleridge  said  of  it,  "  In  tliis,  the  divinest  composition  of 
man,  is  every  doctrine  of  Christianity ;  first,  those  doctrines 
peculiar  to  Christianity ;  and  secondly,  those  precepts  common 
to  it  with  natural  religion."  It  is  emijhatically  the  Epistle  of 
the  Ascension.  We  i^ise  in  it,  as  on  wings  of  inspiration,  to 
the  divinest  heights.  Word  after  word — and  thought  after 
thought — now  "  the  heavenlies,"  now  "  spiritual,"  now 
"  riches,"  now  "  glory,"  now  "  mystery,"  now  "  plenitude," 
now  "  light,"  now  "  love,"  seem  as  it  were  to  leave  behind 
them  "  a  luminous  trail "  in  this  deep  and  shining  sky.^  It  is 
the  most  sublime,  the  most  profound,  the  most  advanced  and 
final  utterance  of  St.  Paul's  Gospel  to  the  Gentiles.  There 
we  deal  no  longer  with  a  material  advent,  nor  with  argu- 
ments about  the  nullity  of  ceremonialism,  nor  with  personal 
vindications,  nor  even  with  a  system  of  theology  :  but  we  are 
told  of  a  scheme  predestined  before  earth  began ;  of  the 
all-pervading  supremacy  of  God  in  Christ ;  of  the  universal 
quickening  of  spiritual  death  by  the  union  with  the  Risen 
Christ;  of  the  glory  and  dignity  of  the  Universal  Church 
as  the  Temjjle,  the  Body,  the  Bride  of  her  Ascended  Lord. 
The  motto  of  the  whole  Epistle  might  be,  "  There  is  one 
Body  and  one  Spirit," — the  Body  is  the  Universal  Church  of 
God,  the  Sjiirit  is  the  Spirit  of  the  Clirist. 

3.  The  letter  was  probably  a  circular  letter  to  the 
Churches  of  Asia,  and  was  not  intended  for  Ephesus 
alone.  This  accounts  for  the  exclusion  of  all  private  saluta- 
tions, and  for  the  absence  of  affectionate  intimacy  and 
personal  appeal  by  which  it  is  marked.-     It  falls  as  distinctly 

^  See  Introductory  Remarks. 

•  It  may  doubtless  have  licen  meant  for  the  Ej)hesians  among  others,  and  all 
personal  messapjes  and  salutations  to  the  special  Church  could  have  been  sent 
ill  a  seijarate  note,  or  conveyed  by  Tychicus.      The  distance  and  generality  of 


Outline.  829 

as  Colossians  into  two  marked  divisions — three  chapters  ephesians. 
being  doctrinal  and  Christological ;  and  three  chapters  moral 
and  practical.  After  the  salutation  follows  a  singularly  rich 
compressed  and  beautiful  thanksgiving,  in  which  by  the 
thrice  repeated  phrase  "the  praise  of  His  glory"  (i.  6,  12, 
14),  he  reveals  that  the  great  fore-ordained  plan  of  man's 
deliverance  and  glorification  was  the  work  alike  of  Father 
(i.  3),  Son  (i.  7),  and  Holy  Spirit  (i.  13).  He  then  utters  an 
earnest  prayer  that  the  eyes  of  their  hearts  may  be  illuminated,^ 
that  they  might  fully  know  the  wealth  and  glory  of  their 
heritage,  and  the  power  of  God  in  raising  Christ  from  the 
dead,  and  making  Him  the  Head  of  His  Body  the  Church 
which  is  the  fulness  (Pleroma) — the  brimmed  receptacle — of 
Him  who  filleth  all  things  with  all  things.^  The  second 
chapter  shows  that  these  privileges  were  intended  for  all 
mankind.  Gentiles  as  well  as  Jews,  who  had  alike  been 
seated  in  the  heavenlies  in  Christ  by  grace,  and  had  alike 
been  built  on  the  cornerstone  of  Christ  as  stones  in  the  one 
Spiritual  Temple.^  The  third  chapter  is  a  further  exposition 
of  this  "  mystery  "  or  finally  revealed  truth  of  divine  pre- 
destination. He  is  awestruck  when  he  thinks  that  the  preach- 

the  tone,  the  absence  of  the  word  "  brethren,"  which  in  vi.  10,  is  wanting  in 
some  of  the  best  MSS.,  the  twice  repeateil  "if"  in  iii.  2  ;  iv.  12  ;  would  be 
inexplicable  if  the  "  m  Ephcsus"  of  the  first  verse  expressed  the  sole  destination 
of  the  letter.  But  these  words  are  omitted  in  K  B,  and  St.  Basil  saj's  that  they 
were  wanting  in  the  ancient  MSS.  Marcion,  merely  on  critical  grounds,  and 
following  tradition,  thoxight  that  this  Epistle  was  the  letter  to  the  Laodiceans 
(see  Col.  iv.  16).  The  phiase  And  ye  also  {ual  vfieTs  i.  13  ;  vi.  21),  is  probably 
due  to  the  encyclical  character  of  the  letter.     See  Blcek,  Einl.  §  168-170. 

^  i.  18,  ■ir€(t>a)Ttffix4vovs  tovs  6<p6a\iJ,ovs  ttjs  KapSlas  vfiSiv. 

^  The  word  Pleroma  is  hrre  used  in  a  dirt'erent  sense  from  Col.  i.  19,  where 
it  means  "  the  totality  of  the  Divine  attributes  and  agencies."  There  is 
nothing  strange  in  the  supposition  that  St.  Paul  should  use  in  two  senses  a 
rare,  undefined,  and  technical  word  which  is  not  one  of  his  own  words,  but  is 
borrowed  from  the  terminology  of  others. 

3  St.  Paul  is  so  anxious  in  these  first  three  chapters  to  raise  the  conception 
of  the  Church  into  that  of  absolute  unity  of  Gentiles  with  Jews  in  the 
heavenlies,  i.e.  in  the  realm  of  the  Ascended  Lord — that  he  not  only  uses  such 
words  as  "coheirs"  {avyK\rtp6voixa),  and  "built  together"  {awoiKo^oixuadf), 
but  adopts  the  late  unclassical  word  "co-citizens"  {ffv/xiroK^Tat) ,  and  invents 
such  strange  terms  as  "  con- corporate"  (avvawixa),  "  comparticipant " 
{(rvfifxiToxa),  "compaginated"  (avvapixoKoyovfxivq),  "compacted"  {(TvfM^t0a(6- 
ixivov),  ii.  19,  21,  22  ;  iii.  6  ;  iv.  16. 


330  The  Epistles. 

ing  and  comprehension  of  that  mystery  has  been  specially 
assigned  to  himself  the  less  than  least  of  all  saints.^  The 
chapter  ends  with  a  prayer  for  the  fuller  comprehension 
of  this  mystery,  and  this  prayer  passes  into  an  expression 
of  earnest  thanksgiving.  Throughout  these  three  sublime 
chapters,  in  which  the  writer  seems  to  labour  with  the 
fulness  and  grandeur  of  his  own  thoughts,  there  runs  the 
broken  thread  of  one  continuous  petition.^ 

4.  With  this  thanksgiving  he  closes  the  doctrinal  part  of 
the  Epistle,  and  begins  the  practical — "I  then" — and  how 
vast  is  the  significance  of  that  word  "  then,"  building  as  it 
does  the  simplest  of  all  duties  on  the  sublimest  of  all  truths  ! 
— "  I  then  the  prisoner  of  the  Lord  beseech  you  to  walk 
worthily  of  the  vocation  Avherein  ye  Avei'e  called."  That  is 
the  key-note  of  the  remainder  of  the  EjDistle.  St.  Paul  was 
not  conscious  of  any  descent  of  thought  when  he  passed  from 
the  sublimest  spiritual  mysteries  to  the  humblest  practical 
obligations.  The  first  duty  which  he  impresses  is  that  of 
Unity ;  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace ;  unity 
in  the  unity  of  the  faith  amid  the  diversity  of  different  gifts 
of  grace ;  unity  as  exemplified  in  those  virtues  of  lowliness, 
meekness,  long-suffering,  forbearance,  which  the  heathen 
had  hitherto  ranked  with  vices.  He  then  contrasts  this 
their  Christian  vocation  with  their  old  heathen  life,  and  so 
passes  from  the  dominant  conception  of  Love  (i.  8 — 13)  to 
that  of  Light  (v.  8 — 15).  As  Gentiles,  their  hearts  had  been 
dark  and  callous ;  they  had  sinned  away  the  very  sense  of 
sin ;  ^  but  now  they  were  clothed  in  the  new  nature  which 
Christ  bestowed.  Let  them  then  put  away  lying,  and  wrath, 
and  bitterness,  dishonesty,  and  unclean  speech,  which  arc  all  sins 
against  our  oneness  in  Christ.*     And  especially  as  children  of 

^  TO)  (\axiffror4p(ii,  iii.  18. 

2  i.  17;  iii.  13,  14. 

3  Hence  the  expression  "callosity  of  heart"  (ndpaKTiv,  iv.  18),  and  "  past- 
feelingness"  {ain)\yriK6rfs,  iv.  19,  "  q\(i  postqnam  pcccavcrint,  non  dolcnt). 

*  Among  other  words  St.  Paul  uses  the  Aristotelian  expression  fvTpaire\(a, 
"cultivated  impertinence,"  {IHict.  ii.  12)— the  consummate  skill  of  the  pro- 
fessional liar  and  paid  slanderer. 


Outline.  831 

light  let  them  walk  in  the  light,  and  bring  forth  the  fruits  of    ephesians 

light/  in  goodness,  righteousness,  and  truth,  in  the  spirit  of 

an  exhortation  wliicli  is  perhaps  a  fragment  from  some  early 

Christian  liymn. 

"  Awake  thee  thou  that  sleepest, 
And  from  the  dead  arise  thou, 
Aud  Christ  shall  shine  upon  thee."* 

Then,  lest  the  freedom  and  enthusiasm  of  Christianity,  the 
new  fermenting  wine  of  the  Gospel,  should  lead  to  any  disorder, 
he  specially  urges  on  them  the  duties  of  mutual  submission  ^ 
in  the  three  great  social  relations  of  wife  to  husband,  and 
luisband  to  wife  (v.  22 — 33) ;  children  to  parents,  and  parents 
to  children  (vi.  1 — 4);  of  masters  to  servants,  and  servants 
to  masters  (vi.  5 — 9).  And  since  this  life  in  the  light  of 
Christ  pervades  every  sphere  of  duty,  he  bids  them  to  grow 
strong  in  the  Lord  and  in  the  might  of  His  strength. 

5.  That  exhortation  brought  into  his  mind  the  image  of 
armour  with  which  the  worn  and  aged  prisoner  was  so  familiar. 
The  long  coupling-chain  (dXva-i^)  wdiich  bound  his  right 
wrist  to  the  left  of  a  Roman  legionary  clanked  continually  as 
it  touched  some  part  of  the  soldier's  arms.  Among  the  few 
objects  on  which  St.  Paul  could  daily  gaze  were  the  baldric, 
the  military  boot,  the  oblong  shield,  the  cuirass,  the  helmet  of 
his  Praetorian  guardsmen.  Doubtless  the  Apostle,  in  his 
tender  yet  manly  breadth  of  sympathy  with  his  fellowmen  in 
all  things  human,  often  conversed  with  these  soldiers.  That 
was  how  it  came  about  that  the  Gospel  was  heard  of  through- 

^  V.  9.  6  KapiTos  Tov  <p(iir6s. 
^  The  lines 

"Eyeipat  6  KaBevScov 
Kvacrra,  e/c  tS>v  veKpoov 
'EvLcpavaei  (Tot  6  Xptaros. 
There  is  evidently  something  rhythmical  in  these  lines.    We  see,  from  Col.  iii. 
16,  Eev.  xix.  1-4,  that  hymns  and  antiphonal  congregational  singing  already 
existed.     Hippolytus  quotes  these  words  as  coming  from  "a  prophet  ;  "  6  Se 
irpo<^T)Trjy  \4yet,"t,yetpat,  k.t.X.     (De  Christo  ct  Antichr.  65.) 

•'  The  mental  association  between  fervent  singing  and  the  duty  of  subjection       y 
is  perhaps  to  be  found  in  a  reminiscence  of  disorderly  puldic  worship  at  Corinth. 
How  often  has  the  perfervid  shouting  of  revivalists  degenerated  into  unseemly 
uproar  ! 


332  The  Epistles. 

out  the  Praetorian  barracks.  It  was  the  Ijeginning  of  the  Jays 
when  there  should  be  in  the  Roman  army  a  Thundering 
Legion ;  of  the  days  when  the  host  of  Maxentius  should  be 
flung  into  wild  panic  by  the  cross  on  the  Labarum  of 
Constantine  at  the  battle  of  the  Milvian  Bridge.  The 
Roman  soldiers  would  forget  their  contempt  for  a  miserable 
Jew,  and  the  weariness  of  the  thankless  office  in  the 
performance  of  which  they  were  as  much  prisoners  as 
the  prisoner  himself,  when  they  began  to  realise  the  high 
courtesy  of  St.  Paul,  and  what  a  wealth  of  power  and  wisdom 
lay  in  the  words  of  this  poor  but  far-travelled  prisoner.  He 
would  ask  them  of  Gaul,  and  Britain,  and  Germany ;  the 
stations  in  which  they  had  wintered  ;  the  fields  which  they 
had  fought.  They  would  tell  him  in  what  tumult  the 
helmet  got  its  fracture;  in  what  battle  the  shield  was  dinted; 
what  blow  made  that  hack  in  the  sword,  and  how  under  the 
walls  of  what  besieged  fortress  their  armour  had  got  those 
marks  of  fire  from  the  falaricae  or  malleoli — the  darts,  which 
had  been  flung  down  upon  them  wrapped  in  flaming  tow.  And 
with  these  images  in  his  mind,  drawn  from  the  daily  sj)ectacle 
of  his  prison,  he  tells  his  Christians  since  they  too  are  soldiers, 
not  of  Caesar  but  of  Christ,  in  what  panoply  they  may 
resist  "  the  world-rulers  of  this  darkness,"  the  spiritual 
powers  of  wickedness  in  the  heavenlies.^  He  tells  them  of 
the  baldric  of  sincerity;  the  breast-plate  of  moral  righteous- 
ness ;  the  war-boots  (caligae)  of  ready  zeal  in  the  cause  of  the 
Gospel ;  the  covering  shield  of  faith,  to  quench  flaming  arrows 
of  the  wicked  one ;  and,  as  their  one  weapon  of  offence,  the 

^  The  vague  expression  "the  spirituals  (i.e.  the  spiritual  Tiosts,  K.V.)  of 
wickedness  in  the  heavenlies "  is  startling.  We  should  have  expected  "in 
the  sublunaries"  (iv  ro'is  virovpavlois) ,  since  throughout  the  Epistle  </ic  heaven- 
lies  has  been  used  for  the  realms  of  the  Risen  Christ.  Probably  here  (if  the 
reading  be  right)  the  word  is  used  in  a  purely  physical  sense  (A.V.  "in  high 
places  ")  to  denote  the  upper  regions  :  just  as  in  2  Cor.  iv.  4,  St.  Paul  calls 
Satan  "  the  prince  of  the  power  of  the  air."  The  expression  "  world-rulers" 
{Koff/xoKpaTopes)  is  even  transliterated  in  the  Rabbis  from  the  Greek.  "  The 
spirituals  "  here  means  the  band  of  demon-powers  (Gcisterschaft).  St.  Paul 
was  familiar  with  this  conception  from  his  Rabbinic  studies.  In  the  Talmud 
Thacksiphid  and  Ibalgannith  (Berachoth,  f.  51,  1)  aie  used  for  bodies  of 
Shedim  or  evil  spirits. 


Exhortations.  833 

sword  of  the  Spirit  which  is  the  Word  of  God.^    In  this  armour  ephesians. 

they  were  to  stand  fast.     "  Blessed,"  says  David,  "  is  the  man 

that  walketh  not  in  the  counsel  of  the  ungodly ;  nor  standeth 

in  the  way  of  sinners  ;  nor  sitteth  in  the  seat  of  the  scornful."  ^ 

St.  Paul  has  told  the  Ephesians    that   they  must   sit   with 

Christ  in  the  heavenlies ;  ^  that  they  must  walk  in  love,  walk 

not  as  other  Gentiles  walk,  walk  as  children  of  light,  walk 

accurately,  walk  not  as  unwise  but  as  wise  ;  ^  he  tells  them 

now  that  clad  in  heavenly  armour  they  are  to  stand  fast  in 

the  Lord,  to  stand  against  the  wiles  of  the  devil,  and  having 

done  all  to  stand .^ 

And  then  he  ends  with  asking  for  their  prayers — not 
that  he  may  be  set  free ;  for  his  thoughts  are  never  for 
himself,  always  for  his  Master's  work — but  that  he  may 
boldly  make  known  this  mystery  of  the  Gospel  for  which 
he  is  an  ambassador,  not  like  the  world's  ambassadors, 
splendid  and  inviolable — but  an  "  ambassador  in  a  coupling- 
chain,"  an  ambassador  with  fettered  hands.^  He  sends  no 
personal  messages  because  they  will  be  carried  by  the  beloved 
and  faithful  Tychicus,  but  he  ends  with  a  blessing  singularly 
full  and  sweet,  "  Peace  to  the  brethren,  and  love  with  faith 
from  God  the  Father,  and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Grace  be 
with  all  who  love  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  incorrupt 
sincerity." 

6.  Such  is  a  most  imperfect  sketch  of  this  rich,  many-sided 
circular  letter.  Not  a  tenth  part  of  its  beauty  and  wealth  of 
truth  is  here  indicated.  Its  fervour,  intensity,  and  sublimity  ; 
the  unifying  power  of  imagination  over  the  many  subordinate 
truths  which  are  ever  struggling  for  utterance  ;  the  eager  and 
exultant  conviction  which  hurries  the  Apostle  onward  in  spite 
of  the  deeply  important  thoughts  which  crowd  themselves 
into  long  parentheses  and  almost  interminable  paragraphs; 

^  Comp.  Is.  lix.  16-19  ;  Wisd.  v.  17-20  ;  1  Thess.  v.  8.  He  does  not 
mention  the  pilum  or  heavy  javelin,  hut  the  soldiers  would  not  be  likely  to 
carry  this  into  a  guard-room. 

2  Ps.  i.  1.  3  i.  3-20  ;  ii.  6.  «  iv.  1,  17  ;  v.  2,  8-15. 

'  vi.  11,  H.  «  vi.  20,    viTtp  oZ  irpea-peio}  iv  aXiaei. 


334  The  Epistles. 

the  manner  in  which  (as  in  the  Colossians)  chord  after  chord 

of  feeling  is  struck,  and  all  of  them  seem  to  vibrate  in  unison 

before  the  ones  first  struck  have  trembled  into  silence ; — all 

this  must  be  studied  with  close  and  repented  study  before  it 

can   be  appreciated.     In   the  depth  of  its  theology,  in  the 

loftiness  of  its  morals,  in    the    way  in    which    the    simplest 

moral  truths  are  based  upon  the  jDrofoundest  religious  doctrines 

— the   Epistle   is   unparalleled.      In   it  you   see   Paul    the 

theologian  and  Paul  the  man  at  their  greatest  and  tlieir  best. 

He  has  risen  as  into  some  purer  atmosphere  far  above  all 

controversies  and  all  personalities.     The  mingled  prayer  and 

paean  of  this  magnificent  Ej^istle  is  inspired  throughout  by  a 

sense  of  opposites,  "  of  the  union  of  weakness  and  strength ; 

of  tribulation  and  glory ;  of  all  that  had  been  and  all  that 

was  to  be ;  of  the  absolute  love  of  God,  of  the  discovery  of 

that  love  to  man  in  the  Mediator ;  of  the  working  of  that 

love  in  man  by  the  Spirit ;  of  the  fellowship  of  the  poorest 

creature  of  flesh   and   blood   on   earth  with   the   spirits  in 

heaven  ;  of  a  canopy  of  love  above,  and  an   abyss   of  love 

beneath,    which    encompasses    the    whole    creation."      The 

Apostle  would  have  rejoiced  in  the  high  words  of  the  modern 

poet  :— 

"  I  say  to  thee,  do  thou  repeat 
To  the  first  man  thou  mayest  meet 
lu  lane,  highway,  or  opeu  street, — 
Tliat  he,  and  we,  and  all  men,  move 
Under  a  cauojiy  of  love 
As  broad  as  the  blue  sky  above." 

— Archbishop  Trexch. 


OutUne  of  the  Epistle.  835 


NOTE   I.  EPHESIANS. 

OUTLINE    OF   THE   EPISTLE   TO   THE    EPHESIANS. 

1.  Greeting,  i.  1,  2. 

2.  General  thanksgiving,  into  which  is  introdnced  the  general  thesis 
of  the  Epistle,  the  fore-ordained  election  of  all  members  of  the  Universal 
Church,  united  in  the  Kisen  Christ,  by  the  work  of  the  Father,  the  Son, 
and  the  Holy  Spirit,  i.  3-14.  Prayer  for  their  growth  in  the  full 
knowledge  of  this  mystery  (15-23). 

3.  Doctrinal.  Unity  of  Jew  and  Gentile  in  Christ,  ii.  1-22. 
Fuller  explanation  of  this  mystery,  as  preached  by  St.  Paul,  with  prayers 
for  their  full  comprehension  of  it  (iii.  1-19),  concluded  by  a  doxology 
(iii.  20-21). 

4.  Practical.  Exhortations  to  walk  worthily  of  this  ideal  unity  of 
the  Catholic  Church  in  love  (iv.  1-16),  and  to  perform  the  duties  of  the 
new  life  in  the  concjuest  over  sin  (iv.  17-24). 

The  duties  of  sincerity  (25),  gentleness  (26),  self-control  (27),  honesty 
and  diligence  (28),  purity  of  speech  and  mutual  kindness  (29-32), 

Special  duty  of  love  and  purity  and  walking  in  the  light,  with 
spiritual  fervour  (v.  1-20). 

Duty  in  social  relations — children  and  parents  ;  wives  and  husbands  ; 
slaves  and  master  (v.  22-vi.  9). 

The  armour  of  God  (vi.  12-17). 

5.  Personal  (18-22). 

6.  Final  salutation  (23-24). 


NOTE  II. 

authenticity  of   THE   EPISTLE. 

The  authenticity  of  this  Epistle  has  been  seriously  impugned  on  the 
following  grounds  : 

1.  "  It  has  many  new  and  rare  expressions,  such  as  the  heavenlies  (i.)  ; 
■workl-rulera  (vi.  12)  ;  purchased  possession  {nepnroirjacs,  1.  14)  ;  incorrup- 
tibility {n(l>6ap(Tia,  vi.  24)  ;  devil  {Bid^oXos,  iv.  27  ;  vi.  11),'  richli/ 
varied  (iii.  10)."  ^ 

]J  St.  Piuil  elsewhere  uses  "  Satan,"  except  in  the  Pastoral  Ejiistles. 

^  It  is  also  urged  that  he  uses  &(pf(ns  for  "  remission  "  (Eph.  i.  7  ;  Col.  i.  14), 
not  irapeeris,  Rom.  iii.  25  ;  and  uses  Church  iu  a  more  abstract  sense.  Miuor 
criticisms  are  hardly  worth  noticii)g. 


336  The  Epistles. 

The  argument  has  no  value.  Unique  expressions  (ana^  Xcyofifvn)  occur 
even  in  St.  Paul's  most  untloubted  Epistles.  The  phraseology  of  Chris- 
tianity was  at  this  epoch  in  a  fluid  condition,  and  St.  Paul,  like  all  men 
of  highly  susceptible  temperament,  constantly  enriched  his  vocabulary 
with  new  words  and  "  turns  of  expression." 

2.  "  It  abounds  in  recurrent  phrases,  such  as  "  the  heavenlies,"  and  "  the 
riches  of  his  glory." 

This  is  rather  a  mark  of  genuineness  than  otherwise.  We  have  re. 
peatedly  noticed  the  same  phenomena  in  the  Second  Epistle  to  the 
Corinthians. 

3.  "The  style  is  weak,  diffused,  and  embarrassed." 

Some  of  the  best  judges  of  style  in  all  ages — men  like  Chrysostora 
and  Theophylact  in  ancient  days,  and  Luther,  Calvin,  Grotius,  Coleridge, 
^Maurice  in  modern  days— have,  on  the  contrary,  felt  or  recorded  the  very 
highest  admiration  for  the  style. 

4.  "It  speaks  of  'the  holy  Apostles'  (iii.  5) ;  a  phrase  which  could 
not  have  been  used  by  the  writer  of  Gal.  ii." 

The  phrase  belongs  to  the  a-fuvorr]! — the  overflowing  fulness  of  the 
style,  and  the  word  "  Apostles  "  is  here  combined  with  "  prophets  "  in  a 
perfectly  general  sense,  and  the  epithet  merely  means  that  they,  like  all 
Christians,  were  consecrated  or  "  saints."  The  word  dylois  is  not  found 
in  all  MSS.,  and  may  not  even  be  genuine.  It  may  have  originated  from 
a  reminiscence  of  Col.  i.  26  ;  but  if  genuine  it  is  official  and  impersonal, 
and  there  is  no  reason  whatever  why  St.  Paul  should  not  have  used  it  in 
Buch  a  letter  as  this. 

5.  "  It  contains  traces  of  advanced  Gnosticism,  and  therefore  must  be 
later  than  St.  Paul's  time." 

This  rests  on  mere  assertion.  Simon  Magus,  the  father  of  all  Gnosti- 
cism, was  the  contemporary  of  St.  Paul.  There  was  an  incipient 
Gnosticism  long  before  the  days  of  the  Gnostics.  To  press  into  the 
argument  such  common  words  as  "  aeon,"  "  mystery,"  and  "  wisdom,"  is 
absurd.  The  words  Gnosis  and  Pleroma,  though  beginning  to  be  tech- 
nical in  Ephesians  and  Colossians,  are  not  used  in  the  senses  afterwards 
attached  to  them.  They  were  borrowed  by  the  Gnostics  from  St.  Paul, 
not  by  the  writer  of  this  Epistle  from  the  Gnostics.  Tertullian,  when  he 
uses  the  word  Trpo^oXi),  and  is  afraid  of  the  objection  that  the  word  is 
tainted  with  Valentinianism  {ndv.  Pra.rean.  8),  answers  that  heresy  has 
only  borroived  the  word  from  truth  to  fix  to  it  its  own  bad  stamp, 

6.  "It  expresses  un-Pauline  views  of  marriage." 

This  quite  baseless  objection  arises  from  overlooking  the  fact  that  in 
1  Cor.  vii.  (with  which  Eph.  v.  22-23,  is  supposed  to  conflict),  St.  Paul 
is  only  speaking  of  marriage  under  one  special  aspect,  and  in  answer  to 
definite  questions,  and  with  reference  to  special  exigencies.  Nor  is  there 
anything  strange  even  if  on  that  subject  his  thoughts  had  widened  and 
deepened  as  they  did  in  many  other  directions. 


The  Epistle  Genuine.  837 

7.  The  advanced  Christology  of  the  Epistle,  and  its  developed  con- 
ception of  the  Church  are  due  to  the  rapid  growth  and  enlightenment  of 
Christian  thought  in  the  most  germinant  period  of  the  Church's  life,  and 
amid  the  most  marked  outpouring  of  spiritual  gifts.  At  supreme  epochs 
of  human  enlightenment,  the  writings  itf  a  few  years  seem  to  be  sepa- 
rated by  whole  centuries  of  thought.  St.  Paul  has  already  left  far 
behind  him  the  now  settled  controversies  of  a  few  years  earlier. 

Even  if  the  objections  were  as  valid  as  they  are  in  reality  weak, 
they  could  not  counterbalance  the  positive  proofs  that  the  Epistle  is 
genuine.  The  external  evidence  in  its  favour  is  strong  and  ancient,  and  it 
was  received  by  the  whole  Church  without  question  from  the  days  of 
Ignatius'  to  those  of  Schleiermacher.  In  every  essential  particular  it  is 
admittedly  Pauline.  It  abounds  in  the  most  fundamental  conceptions 
of  St.  Paul — the  relations  of  Christianity  to  Judaism  ;  the  universality 
of  sin  ;  the  prominence  given  to  faith  and  love  ;  the  freedom  of  grace  ; 
the  moral  necessity  for  good  works  ;  the  exaltation  of  Clirist.  No  forger 
could  have  developed  the  thoughts  which  St.  Paul  had  already  ex- 
pressed in  Colossians,  with  the  intimate  knowledge,  and  yet  splendid 
originality  and  independence  which  are  seen  in  every  clause  of  this 
Epistle.  There  was  not  a  single  writer  in  the  first  three  centuries,  except 
St.  Paul,  who  could  have  written  this  deepest,  loftiest,  and  most  final 
utterance  of  his  special  Gospel,  If  any  one  but  Paul  wrote  this  letter 
there  must  have  been  two  Pauls,  We  may  confidently  assert  that 
no  Christian  of  whom  the  Church  has  ever  heard  was  capable  of  either 
forging  the  style  or  expressing  the  deepest  thoughts  of  St.  Paul.  "  Non 
est  cujusvis  hominis,"  says  Erasmus,  "  Paulinum  pectus  effingere." 


NOTE  III. 

LEADING  WORDS   OF  THE   EPISTLE, 

Leading  words— which  indicate  the  characteristics  of  the  whole 
Epistle. 

God's  will  (diXrjfxa,  i,  1,  5,  9,  11  ;  v.  17  ;  vi.  6)  and  jnu-jjose  (^ov\^,  1, 
11;  fidoKta,  i.  9,  npodea-is,  iii.  11),  and  dispensation  (olKofoftla,  i.  10  ;  iii.  3). 
There  has  been  no  reversal  of  God's  plans  respecting  the  unity  of  Jews 
and  Gentiles  in  the  Church.  All  has  been  foreordained  (npoopiaas,  i.  5  ; 
TTpo  Kara^oX^s  Koafiov,  i.  4  ;  TrpoopiaOevrfs,  i,  11  ;  npoe'deTo,  i.  9  ;  irpo-nToin- 
aaev,  ii.  10). 

Grace,  The  word  occurs  no  less  than  thirteen  times  (i.  2,  6  (bis)  7  ; 

Z 


338  The  EiAstles. 

F.PHEsiAXs.  ii.  5,  7,  8  ;  iii.  2,  7,  8  ;  iv.  7,  32  ;  vi.  24)  ;  and  may  be  regarded  as  the 
most  prominent  conception  of  the  Epistle. 

The  IIeavenlies.  (to  (novpclvia),  i.  3,  20 ;  ii.  6  ;  iii.  10 ;  vi.  12. 
The  word  does  not  occur  in  Colossians,  but  four  times  in  1  Cor.  xv. 

Spirit  and  Spiritual.  Tliirteen  times  in  lliis  Epistle  (i.  3,  13,  17  ;  ii. 
18,  22  ;  iii.  5,  16  ;  iv.  3,  4,  23,  30 ;  v.  18  ;  vi.  17,  18).  Only  once  in 
Colossians  (i.  8,  9). 

Mystery,    i.  9  ;  iii.  3,  4,  9  ;  v.  32  ;  vi.  19. 

Plenitude.  "  Pleronia,"  i.  10,  23  ;  iii.  19  ;  iv.  10-13,  The  Plenitude 
of  the  Godhead  is  in  Christ,  and  is  in  His  Cliurch. 

Glory.     86$a,  i.  6,  12,  14,  17,  18  ;  iii.  6,  21, 

True  Knowledge  as  opposed  to  false.i 

The  prominence  of  thouglits  respecting  the  grandeur  of  the  revelation 
and  the  uniti/  of  the  Church  is  shown  by  the  prevalent  compounds  in 
vnep,  "exceedingly,"  (i.  19,  21;  iii.  19,  20;  iv.  10,  &c.)  and  aip, 
"  together."  ^ 

(Spiritual)  Wealth,     i.  7,  18  ;  ii.  4,  17  ;  iii.  8,  16. 

Light,     v.  8-15. 

Love.     iv.  3  13. 


NOTE  IV. 

leading  thoughts  of  the  epistle. 

The  new  aeon  of  God's  ideal  Universal  Church  (t«/  aapa  Ka\  ?v  TTveifia, 
iv.  4),  according  to  a  fore-ordained  dispensation,  of  which  the  benefits 
are  extended  to  all  mankind,  Jew  and  Gentile  indifferently.  This 
perfected  idea  is  a  mystery,  once  hidden,  now  revealed. 

It  is  the  result  of  unsurpassable  love  and  inexhaustible  grace. 

It  centres  in  the  person  of  the  Risen  Christ.  The  Epistle  is  emphati- 
cally the  Epistle  of  the  Ascended  Christ  (iv.  8,  9).  "  The  idea  of 
catholicity  is  here  raised  to  dogmatic  defmiteness  and  predominant 
significance."     Pflcideror,  Paiilinism,  ii.  164. 

The  Church  is  represented  as  the  House  (ii.  20-22)  ;  the  Body  (iv.  12- 
16)  ;  and  the  Bride  of  Christ  (v.  25-27).  Indeed  we  might  take  as  the 
essence  of  the  Epistle,  the  words  which  Paul  addressed  to  the  elders  of 

^  yfwiTts,  iii.  39  ;  fniyvwffis,  i.  17  ;  iv.  13  ;  cvveats,  iii.  14  ;  (ppovriffis,  18  ; 
ffo^iia,  ib.;  cnroKaKvipis,  iii.  3  ;  (puri^fiv,  iii.  9. 

-  ffvyfC'^oiroirifff,  ii.  5  ;  <rvvr]yeipf,  avveKadiaev,  6  ;  ffvixitoXlTai,  ii.  19  ;  trvvoi- 
/fo5o;u€?(rOe,  22  ;  auyK\rip6vofj.a,  ffvvffoiixixa,  erui'^eToxo,  iii.  6  ;  (Tvi'Seanns,  iv.  3  ; 
<rvfj.0i0a^6fx(voy,  avvapixoXoyovixivov,  16. 


Theology.  339 

Ephesus  at  Miletum,  "the  Church  of  God,  which  He  purchased  witli 
His  own  blood." 

Pfleiderer  calls  the  writer  of  the  Epistle  (which  he  does  not  regard  as 
genuine)  "the  first  dogmatist  of  Catholicism."  He  points  out  that 
whereas  the  Epistle  to  the  Colossians  is  directed  against  a  speculative, 
ascetic,  mystic  Judaism,  mixed  with  Oriental  elements,  the  "  Ephesians  " 
is  directed  against  the  libertinism  and  exaggerated  Paulinism  of  Gentile 
Christians  mixed  with  Gnostic  and  dualistic  theories. 


NOTE  V. 

Theology  of  the  Epistle. 

The  exposition  of  the  plan  of  salvation  in  Eomans  hpsycliohfjic.  It 
is  built  on  moral  facts — the  universality  of  sin  ;  the  insufficiency  of 
man ;  God's  appointed  method  of  justification  by  the  union  of  the 
believer  with  Christ, 

In  this  Epistle  the  statement  is  theologic.  It  expresses  the  idea  of 
God's  eternal  plans  realised  in  the  course  of  ages,  and  the  unity  in  Christ 
of  redeemed  humanity  with  the  family  of  heaven  in  the  heavenlies?- 

In  Hebrews  we  have  the  idea  of  reconciliation  viewed  especially  in 
the  light  of  Christ's  Eternal  Priesthood. 

In  this  Epistle  and  Colossians,  Christ  stands  forth  as  the  Central  Being 
of  the  Universe, 

1  See  Reuss,  Lcs  E'pUres  Paulin.  ii.  1 43. 


EPHESIANS. 


z  2 


EPISTLE  TO  PHILEMON. 

WrJTTEN    IN   ST.  PAUL's  FIRST  IMPRISONMENT,  ABOUT  A.D.  63. 

"  Evangelico  dccore  consciipta  est." — Jerome. 

"Epistnla  nimiliaris  mire  aa-Tuos,  summae  sapientiae  piaebitura  specimen." 
— Bengel. 

"Eui  Muster  von  Takt,  Feinheit,  und  LielDenswiirdigkeit." — Holtzmann. 

"Here  we  see  how  St.  Paul  laj^eth  himself  out  for  poor  Onesimus  and 
pleadeth  his  cause  with  Iiis  m;i.ster,  and  so  sctteth  himself  as  if  he  were 
Onesimus  and  had  liimself  done  wiong  to  Philemon.  Even  as  Christ  did  for 
us  with  God,  Ilis  Father,  thus  also  doth  St.  Paul  for  Onesimus  with  Philemon. 
We  are  all  his  Onesiuii  to  my  thinking." — Luther. 


"  No  longer  as  a  slave,  but  more  than  a  slave,  a  brother  beloved." 
— Philem.  16. 

During  St.  Paul's  long  stay  at  Ephesiis  he  had  made  the 
acquaintance  of  a  Colossian  named  Philemon,  who,  with  his 
wife  Apphia,  and  his  son  Archippus,  had  been  converted  to 
Christianity.  They  seem  to  have  occupied  a  good  position, 
and  they  lent  their  house  as  a  meeting-place  for  the  little 
Christian  community  in  their  native  city.  Thus  Philemon  and 
Apphia^  became  "fellow-workers"  with  St.  Paul.  Archippus 
seems  to  have  entered  the  Christian  ministry  as  a  deacon  -  or 
a  presbyter,  either  conjointly  with  Epaphras  at  Colossae,  or  at 
the  neighbouring  town  of  Laodicea,  for  St,  Paul  calls  him 
not  only  his  "  fellow- worker,"  but  his  "  fellow-soldier." 

^  The  Phrygian  name  Apphia  must  not  be  confused  with  the  Eoman  name 
Appia. 

^  Col.  iv.  17.      EliraTe'Apxi-^Tfp)  BAtTreT^jj/    it  UKOvlay  V   iraptXafifs  iv 


Oncsimus.  841 

In  tliis  household  thus  converted  to  Christianity  there  was 
a  slave — probably,  as  we  gather  from  the  tone  in  which  he  is 
sj)olven  of,  a  young  slave  ^ — named  Onesimus.  His  name 
meant  "  Profitable,"  but  he  had  proved  himself  very  much  the 
reverse ;  for  he  had  certainly  run  away  from  his  master,  and 
probably,  if  we  rightly  interpret  St.  Paul's  delicate  references, 
had  either  stolen  something  from  him,  or  had  in  some  other 
way  inflicted  on  him  an  injury. 

The  poor  dishonest  fugitive  escaped  from  Colossae,  and 
through  we  know  not  what  perils  and  hardships,  made  his 
way  to  Ej^hesus,  and  then  as  best  he  could  across  the  Aegean 
and  the  Adriatic,  to  the  common  drain  of  all  the  misery  and 
vice  of  the  ancient  world,  the  city  of  Rome.  In  that  city,  as 
in  London,  there  were  multitudes  of  lodging-houses — called 
insulae  or  "islands" — where  the  swarming  myriads  of  slaves 
and  paupers  and  escaped  criminals  lived  a  precarious  and 
miserable  life. 

Any  one  who  had  drifted  into  such  abodes  of  wretchedness 
might  sink  to  all  conceivable  dej)ths  of  squalor  and  degrada- 
tion. If  Onesimus  had  stolen  any  money  from  Philemon  it 
would  soon  be  exhausted  in  such  haunts  and  taverns  as 
Avould  alone  be  open  to  a  runaway  Phrygian  slave.  But  the 
adventures  of  Onesimus  must  be  left  to  the  imagination. 
Could  we  but  read  them  they  might  throw  no  little  light  on 
the  condition  of  ancient  society ;  but  we  can  only  hope  that 
they  were  less  deeply  dyed  in  infamy  than  the  adventures  of 
others  of  his  class  as  described  to  us  in  romances  of  that  age 
which  are  still  extant. 

"We  do  not  know  how  he  was  snatched  out  of  this  perilous 
abyss.  It  is  very  probable  that  in  former  days  he  may  have 
been  in  attendance  on  his  master  Philemon  at  Ephesus,  and 
there,  in  the  school  of  Tyrannus,  or  in  some  private  gathering 
of  converts,  he  may  have  seen  and  heard  St.  Paul,  It  is,  at 
any  rate,  likely  that  he  must  have  been  known  by  sight  to 

1  St.  Paul  calls  him  his  "child,"  and  uses  of  him  the  word  avrXdyxva 
("son  of  my  bowels  ")  which  was  applied  airectionately  to  sous. 


342  The  Ejnsth'S. 

Epapliras,  who  was  now  in  some  sense  a  "fellow-captive" 
with  St.  Paul  at  Rome,  and  who,  as  a  native  of  Colossae, 
must  have  been  very  familiar  with  Pliilemon  and  "the  Church 
in  his  house."  Perhaps  Onesimus,  when  he  was  at  the  lowest 
ebb  of  his  worldly  fortunes,  had  met  and  been  recognised  by 
Epaphras  or  Aristarchus,  or  had  of  his  own  impulse  come  to 
seek  St.  Paul.  Those  who  are  familiar  with  misfortune  are 
quick  to  recognise  the  countenances  and  the  characters  of 
kindly  and  symj)athetic  men.  Onesimus,  in  the  house  of 
Philemon,  must  have  caught  some  glimpse  at  least  of  the 
love  and  tenderness  and  respect  for  the  bodies  and  souls  of 
men  which  were  ruling  principles  in  the  Christian  society. 
He  must  have  been  well  aware  that  if  he  appealed  to  such  a 
man  as  Paul,  he  would  not  appeal  in  vain.  For  Paul 
"received  all  that  came  in  unto  him  ,  .  .  teaching  those 
things  which  concern  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  ^ 

To  whom  else  could  he  apply  ?  At  Rome  for  the  ordinary 
fugitive  there  were  no  means  of  earning  a  living  except  by 
vice  and  crime.  Unless  the  Asiatic  slave  could  turn  gladiator, 
or  thief,  or  sell  himself  into  slavery  again,  how  was  he  to 
earn  his  bread  ?  He  was  not  of  the  slightest  value  in  the 
market,  and  the  terrified  instincts  of  the  slave  were  too 
strong  in  him  to  permit  of  his  return  to  his  offended  master. 
Slavery  was  a  legal  and  a  universal  institution.  Onesimus 
had  no  means  of  judging  how  it  would  be  affected  by 
Christianity.  If  he  returned  to  Colossae,  Philemon,  even  if  he 
were  a  kind-hearted  man,  would  in  no  sense  be  transgressing 
the  most  ordinary  customs  of  the  day  if  he  had  branded 
Onesimus  or  sent  him  to  work  in  chains  in  some  stifling  and 
horrible  ergastulum,  or  tortured,  or  resold  him  into  slavery  for 
anything  which  he  would  fetch  from  a  fresh  master,  who  might 
treat  him  with  the  worst  extremes  of  Pagan  cruelty.  He 
might  fall  into  the  hands  of  some  owner,  who  would,  without 
compunction,  fling  him  into  a  fislipond  to  feed  the  lampreys 
or  even  nail  him  to  a  cross  to  feed  the  ravens  and  the  kites. 

1  Acts  xxviii.  30,  31. 


Slavery  at  Bomt.  313 

Even  the  elder  Cato,  that  model  of  Pagan  vh-tue,  had  habitually 
sold  innocent  and  faithful  slaves  Avhen  they  were  too  aged  to 
be  of  any  further  use  to  him.  At  that  very  period  there  had 
been  in  Rome  a  recrudescence  of  the  worst  severities  of 
slavery.  The  multiplication  of  slaves,  which  had  been  pro- 
gressing for  nearly  two  centuries,  had  now  become  so  over- 
whelming that  the  slaves  in  the  wealthiest  houses  were  to  be 
counted  not  by  hundreds,  but  by  thousands.  The  natural 
Nemesis  of  that  vile  institution  had  ensued.  Everywhere 
there  was  terror ;  everywhere  there  was  enervation,  misery, 
and  corruption.  Wherever  Onesimus  moved  among  the 
thronged  haunts  of  the  mob,  he  would  hear  discussed  the 
burning  question  of  the  wrongs  of  slaves.  Very  shortly 
before  his  arrival  in  Rome  the  city  had  witnessed  one  of  the 
indescribable  horrors  of  a  decadent  civilisation  and  an  imperial 
absolutism.  A  Senator,  named  Pedanius  Secundus,  a  man  of 
high  rank,  a  Consul,  a  Praefect  of  the  city,  had  four  hundred 
slaves ;  and  in  the  condition  of  morals  which  then  prevailed 
and  which,  as  Seneca  said,  made  vice  a  necessity  to  those 
who  were  not  free,  one  of  these  slaves — a  rival  with  his 
master  for  the  love  of  a  fellow-slave — had  murdered  Pedanius 
in  his  bed.  The  murder  struck  a  thrill  of  terror  into  the 
heart  of  Roman  society.  Such  an  event  had  not  occurred 
within  living  memory.  The  slaves  were  so  completely  trodden 
down  under  the  iron  heel  of  force,  they  were  so  securely  kept 
in  control  by  their  own  vices  and  mutual  jealousies,  that  the 
murder  of  a  master  by  one  of  his  own  slaves  seemed  a  por- 
tentous omen  of  future  possibilities.  The  sleep  of  many  a 
Roman  was  disturbed  and  haunted  by  the  sense  that  so  many 
slaves  only  meant  so  many  enemies.  A  slave  might  be  only 
"  a  live  chattel,"  ^  "  an  implement  with  a  voice ; "  ^ — a  slave 
might  seem  something  lower  than  the  mire  beneath  a  Roman's 
feet — but  somehow  these  slaves  seemed  to  have  an  a^Ykward 


^  ffx^vxov  opyavov. — Arist.  Pol.  i.  4.     The  Greek  etymologists  of  tlio  Etymo- 
logkum  Magmun  connect  ZovKos  with  5Ja.os,  ^vSpowoSov  with  a-KoUffeat. 
-  "Instrumenti  genus  .  .  .  vocale." — Varro,  Dc  Re  Jiud.  i.  17. 


344  The  Epistles. 

way  of  showing  that  they  were  human,  that  they  too  were  made 
of  flesh  and  blood,  that  they  too  were  capable  of  love  and  envy, 
and  hatred  and  desperate  revenge.  At  the  si)lendid  banquets, 
when  the  slaves  had  retired  to  a  safe  distance,  men  whose 
lightest  word  might  have  handed  over  scores  of  human  beings 
to  the  prison  or  the  torturer — ladies  who  by  a  nod  might  have 
their  slave  girls  branded  for  puttmg  a  wrong  fold  in  a  robe — 
whispered  to  each  other  their  terrified  confidences  about  the 
black  looks  which  they  had  seen,  or  the  stern  murmurs  which 
they  had  lieard  among  the  slave  population.  We  may  be 
quite  sure  that,  at  this  very  period,  grim  stories  flew  from  lip 
to  lip  about  the  possible  recurrence  of  massacres  and  rapine, 
such  as  those  which  had  occurred  in  the  Servile  War  under  a 
Eunus  in  Sicily,  or  had  long  afterwards  been  inflicted  by  a 
Spartacus  in  Lucania  and  Bruttium. 

There  existed  in  Rome  an  old  and  ruthless  law  which  had 
long  fallen  obsolete,  that  when  a  master  was  murdered  his 
whole  "  family "  of  slaves  should  be  put  to  death.  This 
Silanian  law  was  founded  on  the  principle  that  no  master 
could  ever  be  murdered  without  the  comi^licity  of  a  number 
of  his  slaves,  and  it  was  meant  to  strike  terror  into  the  vast 
numbers  of  these  wretched  dependants  by  making  their 
common  safety  depend  on  their  protecting  the  life  of  their 
owner.  Pedanius  had  400  slaves — a  number  by  no  means 
unusually  large.  It  was  debated  in  the  Senate  whether  or 
not  the  Silanian  law  should  be  put  into  execution.  One  of 
the  most  eloquent  and  eminent  of  the  Senators,  C.  Cassius 
Longinus,  had  argued  that  it  should.  "  The  rich  and  the 
noble,"  he  said,  "  at  Rome  were  few  among  the  many.  Their 
only  safety  lay  in  the  terror  of  their  inferiors,  or,  at  any  rate, 
in  the  certainty  that  if  they  perished  they  would  never  perish 
unavenged."     So  spake  Longinus. 

"and  with  the  tj-rant's  plea, 
Necessity,  excused  his  devilish  deeds." 

His  appeal  to  a  terrified  selfishness  carried  the  day.  The 
Senate  voted  that  the  Silanian  law  should  be  carried  out. 


TJie  Slaves  of  Pedanius.  345 

The  Koman  populace,  worthless  as  it  had  become— ever 

"  the  lewd  people  of  the  baser  sort,"  the  scum  of  the  forum 

and  the  tavern,  surrounded  as  they  were  by  every  influence 

which  could  deprave  and  harden  them,  and 

"  Cruel,  by  their  sports  to  blood  inirrcd 
Of  fighting  beasts,  aud  men  to  beasts  exposed — " 

had  yet  enough  humanity  left  in  them  to  feel  horrified  at  the 
inexcusable  butchery  of  four  hundred  innocent  human  beings, 
of  whom  three  hundred  and  ninety-nine  were  avowedly  inno- 
cent. Every  one  knew  who  had  murdered  Pedanius,  every  one 
knew  the  desperate  feelings  of  revenge  and  lawless  passion 
by  which  the  murderer  had  been  instigated.  There  was  no 
jDretence  at  hinting  that  there  had  been  any  conspiracy  among 
these  four  hundred  slaves.  They  were  of  different  ages  and 
sexes ;  they  came  from  different  nationalities ;  they  had 
different  interests.  There  was  probably  not  one  of  them  who 
would  not,  if  it  had  been  in  his  power,  have  arrested  the 
murderer's  hand,  and  protected  their  owner — not  out  of  love, 
but  out  of  fear  and  self-interest — even  at  the  expense  of 
their  own  lives.  To  butcher  them  merely  in  order  to  strike 
terror  was  shocking  even  to  the  facx  Romuli — the  dregs  of 
the  capital  of  the  world.  Wrathful  menaces  were  heard 
among  the  populace.  They  should  not  die.  They  should  be 
rescued. 

But  Nero  sided  with  the  Senate.  The  golden  quinquennium, 
such  as  it  was,  was  over.  The  imperial  tiger  had  long  ago 
tasted  blood,  and  relished  the  taste.  He  ordered  the  execu- 
tion to  be  carried  out  by  military  force.  In  the  sight  of  the 
whole  city — whose  merchandise  was  not  only  of  gold,  and 
silver,  and  pearls,  and  precious  stones,  and  fine  linen,  and 
purple,  and  silk,  and  scarlet,  and  ivory,  and  incense,  and 
wine,  and  thyine  wood,  but  also  of  slaves  and  souls  of  men — 
in  the  sight  of  the  whole  city  that  long  line  of  slaves — old 
and  young,  men  and  women  and  children — had  been  led 
furth  to  die.^ 

1  In  the  Miles  Gloriosus  (i.  4,  19)  of  Plautus,  a  slave  touchinglj'  exclaims, 
*'  I  know  the  cross  will  be  mj'  sojmlchre  ;  all  my  ancestors  are  buried  there." 


346  The  Epistles. 

At  such  a  time  there  was  not  a  slave  iu  Rome  who  must 
not  have  felt  his  slavery  more  bitter  and  galling  than  ever. 
Never  had  the  chasm  between  slave  and  freeman  seemed  to 
be  more  immense.  When  a  slave  was  emancipated  the 
Praetor  had  but  to  turn  him  round  and  touch  him  with  his 
wand,  and  the  most  worthless  stable-boy  in  Rome — the  non 
ircssis  agaso — might  assume  his  master's  praenomen,  and 
spring  into  the  full  dignity  of  a  man.  But  Oncsimus  was  a 
slave — a  slave  of  the  lowest  class,  for  he  was  a  Phrygian  ^ — 
and,  more  than  that,  he  was  a  dishonest  Phrygian  slave,  a 
pilferer  and  a  fugitive.  But  in  a  happy  hour  Onesimus 
came,  or  was  brought,  to  St.  Paul.  He  learnt  that  Christ 
died  for  all,  that  God  is  no  respecter  of  persons ;  that  in 
Christ  there  is  neither  Jew  nor  Greek,  there  is  neither 
barbarian,  Scythian,  bond,  nor  free,  but  Christ  all  and  in  all. 
The  good  tidings — good  for  all — had  for  slaves  a  yet  more 
indescribable  and  infinite  sweetness.  Onesimus  became  a 
man  and  a  Christian.  He  was  no  longer  Onesimus,  the 
worthless  Phrygian  fugitive,  whose  very  name  had  become  a 
satiric  contrast  to  his  chai'acter,  but  Onesimus  the  brother 
faithful  and  beloved.  Free  indeed  he  was  not.  His  conver- 
sion did  not  change  the  then  universal  constitution  of 
society.  But  if  he  was  not  free  outwardly  he  enjoyed 
inwardly  a  freedom  such  as  he  had  never  conceived  before. 
He  was  freer  than  those  who,  while  they  thought  themselves 
so  free,  were  inwardly  slaves. 

And  this  inward  freedom  involved  so  glorious  an  exaltation 
of  condition  that  it  seems  to  have  educed  all  that  there  was 
of  sweetness  in  the  youth's  natural  character,  Jeremy 
Bentham  once  said  of  a  nobleman  who  had  been  kind  to  him, 
"  He  drew  me  out  of  the  lowest  abyss  of  humiliation ;  he 
first  taught  me  that  I  could  be  something."  Onesinms  had 
been  raised  from  an  uns]3eakably  lower   depth   to   a   then 


^  There  was  a  contemptuous  in-ovevb,  Vlvawv  ^crxaros,  Monander,  Andro,  9, 
7.  Cicero  (p?-o  Flacco)  quotos  two  others — "  Phrygcs  sero  sapiunt ; " 
"  Phryges  phigis  meliores  liuut." 


Onesimus  mid  Paul.  347 

nndreamed-of  lieiglit.  He  earnestly  tried  to  repay  to  St.  miilemon. 
Paul  the  great  debt  of  gratitude  which  he  owed.  He  made 
himself  so  useful,  so  truly  "  profitable,"  that  St  Paul  cannot 
refrain  from  playing  on  his  name.  He  treated  Paul  like  a 
father,  and  Paul  loved  him  as  a  dear  son — as  his  own  very 
"  heart "  ^ — and  would  gladly,  in  his  bonds  and  loneliness,  have 
kept  him  by  his  side  for  the  sake  of  his  company  and  help. 
But  this  he  could  not  do.  It  would  have  been  contrary  to 
the  ordinary  rights  of  society  and  ownership.  It  would  have 
been  a  selfish  encroachment  on  the  property  of  another, 
however  gladly  such  an  encroachment  might  have  been 
conceded.  Paul  was  not  a  man  to  take  a  liberty  with  a 
friend.  As  a  gentleman,^  as  a  man  of  honour,  above  all  as  a 
Cliristian,  he  felt  himself  obliged  to  send  back  the  fugitive  to 
his  lawful  master.  He  would  not  give-  any  occasion  for 
abusing  Christianity  by  an  illegal  interference,  nor  would  he 
2)resume  on  the  generosity  of  even  so  beloved  a  convert  as 
Philemon  of  Colossae. 

And  therefore,  though  he  could  not  part  with  Onesimus 
without  a  severe  wrench,  he  sent  back  the  runaway  to  his 
former  home.  He  sent  him  back  under  the  kind  care  of 
Tychicus,  and  with  a  letter  which  he  knew  would  insure 
forgiveness,  kindness,  probably  even  emancipation.  He  does 
not  utter  the  word  "  emancipation,"  though,  as  has  been  said, 
it  seems  to  be  almost  trembling  on  his  lips.  But  he  wrote  of 
Onesimus  in  such  terms  as  would  make  Philemon  view  him 
in  a  favourable  light,  and  receive  him,  if  not  with  affection, 
at  least  with  pardon.  He  could  not  retain  Onesimus,  but 
what  he  could  do  he  did  by  appearing  as  his  intercessor 
(prccator),  and  throwing  over  him  the  shield  of  sj)iritual 
adoption.  He  felt  that  the  "  timid  Phrygian "  (as  proverbs 
called  the  slaves  of  this  counti-y)  would  thus  be  more  than 
safe. 


^  riiileni.  12,  Su  Se  avrhv,  rovTeari  to  fiti  ffTrKixyxvci;  npocrXa.Bov. 
2  "  Luther— not  by  any  moans  such  rx  (jcnlUman  as  the  Aj)oslle  was,  but 
almost  as  great  a  geuius." — CoLEiiiDGE. 


348  The  Ejyistles. 

[■HiLEMoN.  The  letter  wliicli  lie  wrote  to  render  this  service  to  poor 
Onesimus  is  the  "Epistle  to  Philemon."  It  begins  with 
1-  3,  the  usual  greeting  and  a  thanksgiving  in  which  he  grate- 
4-7.  fully  acknowledges  the  liberality  and  goodness  of  his  friend. 
He  then  proceeds  at  once  to  tell  him  the  object  of  his 
letter.  He  has  tidings  to  give  of  Onesimus,  his  runaway 
slave.  He  might  lay  an  injunction  on  Philemon,  but  he  will 
not  do  so ;  he  will  only  plead  with  him  as  an  old  man  and  a 
jDrisoner, 

In  past  days  "  Profitable "  had  shown  himself  profitless, 
useless,  and  un-Christian ;  now  he  is  useful  and  a  good 
Christian,  Paul  would  gladly  have  retained  his  services,  but 
would  not  do  so  without  Philemon's  leave.  He  was  not  the 
man  to  extract  from  a  friend  a  compulsory  kindness.  He 
therefore  sends  him  back,  and  entreats  Philemon  to  receive 
him,  not  only  as  a  slave,  but  as  a  dear  brother,  yes,  even  as 
he  Avould  receive  Paul  himself  If  the  j^outh  was  in  Philemon's 
debt,  Paul  bids  Philemon  regard  his  autograph  as  a  bond  that 
he  Avould  be  surety  for  that  debt,  without  mentioning  that 
Philemon  owed  him  his  own  self  besides.  "  Yea,  brother, 
may  I  'profit'  by  thee  in  the  Lord.  Will  you  be  tht/ 
Onesimus,  my  Profitable  ?  Refresh  my  heart  in  the  Lord." 
Paul  is  sure  that  he  will  do  this,  and  even  more,  and  asks 
him  also  to  prepare  a  lodging  in  view  of  a  speedy  visit 
8-22.  which  he  hopes  to  make  when  he  is  set  free.  Then  with 
salutations  and  a  blessing  the  Epistle  ends. 

1.  We  may  notice  first  its  infinite  charm.  This  has  been  felt 
by  almost  every  reader.  Casual  as  it  is,  slightly  written, 
entirely  unpremeditated,  simple  and  unartificial  in  style,  it  is 
yet  a  little  "idyll  of  the  progress  of  Christianity."  It  has 
been  compared  by  Grotius,  and  since  his  time  by  many  others, 
with  a  much-admired  letter  of  the  younger  Pliny  to  his 
friend  Sabinianus,  to  ask  pardon  for  a  young  freedman  who 
had  given  Sabinianus  some  offence.  Pliny  w^as  one  of  the 
most  eminent  writers  of  his  day ;  he  had  spent  a  life  of  culture 
and  litei'ary  case  among  men  of  the  highest  rank  and  refine- 


Pcml  and  Pliny.  '     349 

ment ;  and  lie  was  celebrated  for  the  pollslied  style  of  his    philemon. 

correspondence,  which  was  specially  written  for  publication. 

Yet  with  all  its  noble  carelessness  of  expression,  the  incidental 

note  of  the  poor  despised  Jewish  tent-maker  is  more  moving, 

and  more  beautiful,  and  of  incomparably  more  importance. 

For  the  elegant  little  letter  of  Pliny  is  not  enriched  by  any 

deep  underlying  principle.     It  is  the  petition  of  a  kind  man 

on  behalf  of  a  young  and  once  deeply-loved  freedman,  not  a 

request  for  a  criminal  and  fugitive  slave.     Pliny  pleads  only 

the  youth  and  the  tears  of  the  freedman,  and  the  love  which 

Sabinianus  once  bore  for  him.     Paul  jjleads  only  the  broad 

eternal  claims  of  humanity  redeemed  in  Christ.     Pliny  has 

to  beg  that  Sabinianus  will  not  put  the  young  freedman  to 

the   torture.      Paul  has  no  need  to  make  such   a  request. 

With  perfect  confidence  he  asks  Philemon  to  receive  Onesimus 

no  longer  as  a  slave  but  as  a  brother  beloved  in  the  Lord. 

2.  Then  we  may  notice  the  beautiful  light  which  this  letter 
throws  upon  the  character  of  St.  Paul.^  We  see  him  here  in 
private  life ;  in  the  sweet  and  genial  intercourse  which  he 
held  with  the  friends  whom  he  loved.  We  see  how  very  far 
Christianity  is  from  interfering  with  the  exquisite  courtesies 
and  refinements  of  daily  intercourse.  We  see — let  us  repeat 
it — in  the  best  and  truest  sense  of  the  word  what  a  gentleman 
Paul  was. 

''  For  look  who  is  most  virtuous  alwaie 
Prive  and  apert  and  most  iutendeth  aye 
To  do  the  gentle  dedes  that  he  can 
And  take  him  for  the  greatest  gentleman." 

3.  We  note  further  how  vast  was  the  change  introduced 
into  the  world  by  Christianity.  It  taught  as  one  of  its 
central  and  most  essential  doctrines  the  dignity  of  man  as 
man.  It  gave  honour  to  man  simply  as  man.  It  saw  in 
every  man  a  possible  Christian,  and  in  every  Christian  a  true 
brother.  So  deeply  rooted  is  the  respect  of  persons,  so 
inveterate  the  prejudice  of  man's  innate  pride  of  circumstance, 

1  Evpn  Baur  calls  it  a  "sliovt,  attractive,  friendly  and  graceful  letter." — 
Paul.  ii.  80. 


350  The  Ejnstles. 

tliat,  even  four  centuries  later,  there  Avere  Christians  who 
tljought  very  lightly  of  the  Epistle  to  Philemon,  and  argued 
that  it  was  beneath  the  dignity  of  an  Apostle  to  trouble  him- 
self about  a  runaway  slave.^  But  St,  Paul  had  learnt  from 
the  example  of  Ilim  who  was  a  friend  of  publicans  and 
sinners,  nut  only  that  all  men  are  of  one  blood,  and  that 

"Tliere's  a  red  stream  beneath  the  coarse  Wue  doublet, 
Which  warms  tlie  heart  as  kindly  as  if  di-awu 
From  the  far  sources  of  Assyrian  kings 
Who  fust  made  mankind  subject  to  their  sway  ; — " 

but  far  more  than  this,  that  God  is  no  respecter  of  persons, 
and  that  to  be  a  Christian  is  much  more  than  to  be  a  king. 

4.  It  has  been  said,  but  falsely,  that  these  principles  came  to 
the  world  from  other  sources  than  Christianity.  From  what 
other  source  could  they  have  come  ?  Not  certainly  from 
Paganism.  All  that  Paganism — all  even  that  Pagan  philo- 
sophy had  contributed  to  the  slave's  cause  was  a  few  fine 
theoretic  sentiments  of  late  writers  which  rang  hollow  on  the 
lips  of  those  who  were  themselves  slave-masters,  after  centuries 
of  brutal  cruelty  and  boundless  oppression.  All  that  even 
Judaism  contributed  was  the  belief  that  slavery  Avas  both 
permitted  and  inevitable.  "  It  is  forbidden,"  said  the  Rabbi, 
"  to  teach  a  slave  the  law."  When  a  slave  of  Rabbi 
Eliezer  died,  and  his  slaves  came  to  condole  with  him,  he 
first  tacitly  discouraged  and  then  openly  rebuked  them  with 
the  words,  "  Have  I  not  taught  you  that  these  signs  of  respect 
are  not  to  be  shown  at  the  death  of  slaves ;  and  that  nothing 
may  be  said  but  what  is  said  Avhen  oxen  or  asses  die  :  '  May 
the  Lord  replenish  thy  loss '  ? "  When  R.  Jose  allowed  people 
to  say,  "  Alas,  a  good  and  faithful  man ! "  other  Rabbis 
thought  that  he  had  gone  too  far.  The  lesson  of  tlie  inherent 
sacredness  of  humanity  was  effectively  taught  by  Christianity 
alone. 

^  In  Clirysostom's  days,  some  called  it  nfpiTrhv  flye  vnip  Trpay/iaros  fiiKpnv 
it^iwcrev,  vntp  4vhs  avSp6s.  (Comment  in  Ep.  J'kilcm.)  In  Jerome's  days, 
some  said,  "  aiU  cpidolam  non  esse  Pauli  aut  nihil  habere  quod  nos  acdijicart 
po^sit. " 


Christianity  and  Society.  351 

5.  Lastl}^  this  casual  little  Epistle  teaches  us  the  deeply 
important  lesson  how  Christianity  dealt,  and  was  meant  to 
deal,  with  vast  social  problems.     The  broad   experience   of 
humanity  has  proved  that  slavery  contains  in  itself  almost 
inevitably  the  deathful  elements  of  corruption  ;  that  it  is  in 
the  long  run  ruinous  alike  to  the  enslavers  and  the  enslaved. 
The   conscience    of    humanity,    touched    and    quickened    by 
Christian  truth,  at  last  awoke,  however  slowly,  to  the  truth 
that  slavery  is  a  radical  and  inherent  injustice.     Christianity 
Avas  meant  to  teach  these  lessons.     But  it  was  not,  and  could 
not  be,  revolutionary.    It  was  "a  kingdom  not  of  this  world." 
Had  it  attempted  to  interfere  by  violence  and  open  opposition 
with  the  facts  of  the  established  order  it  would  have  in- 
evitably perished  in  the  storm  which  it  would  have  kindled. 
It  was  not  meant  to  pour  upon  the  midnight  a  sudden  and 
blinding  noon,  but  it  was  a  beam  of  light  shot  into  the  dark- 
ness, which  was  to  broaden  gradually  into   boundless   day. 
It  inspired  a   sense  of  freedom,  which   became   ultimately 
fatal  to  immoral  tyrannies.     It  proclaimed  a  Divine  equality, 
a  universal  brotherhood,  which,  without  at  once  interfering 
with  the  established  order  of  things,  left  slavery  impossible 
in  enlightened  lands.     By  Christianising  the  master  it  eman- 
cipated the  slave.     It  emancipated  the  slave  still  more  by 
rescuing  him  from  the  worst  slavery  of  self.     It  did  not  need 
to  preach  emancipation,  for  it  was  emancipation — an  emanci- 
pation   more    complete   than    any   Praetor    or   owner   could 
bestow.      Slaves   who   were    Christ's    freedmen   were,    free 
indeed. 

G.  And  thus,  by  the  princijiles  which  it  expressed,  by  the 
results  which  it  involved,  this  little  letter  became  the  Magna 
Charta  of  freedom  throughout  the  world,  "  Through  the 
vista  of  history  we  see  slavery  and  its  Pagan  theory  of  two 
races  fall  before  the  Holy  Word  of  Jesus,  '  All  men  are  the 
children  of  God.'  "  ^ 

We  know  that  Sabinianus  at  Pliny's  request  forgave  his 
^  Mazzini,  Works,  vi.  99. 


352  The  Epistles. 

young  freedman ;  we  maybe  quite  sure  that  Philemon  not 
only  forgave  his  profitless  Oncsimus,  but  took  liim  to  his 
heart  as  a  brother  in  Christ.  We  never  hear  of  him  again. 
There  was  an  Onesimus  who  was  Bishop  of  Beroea  (GonsU. 
Ajwst.  vii.  46),  and  another  who  was  Bishop  of  Ephesus 
{Tgnat.  ad  Ej^hcs.  i.  8),  with  both  of  whom  he  has  been 
identified  by  Christian  tradition.  In  two  of  the  MSS.  of  the 
Epistle  there  is  a  postscript  which  says  that  he  Avas  martyred 
at  Rome  by  having  both  of  his  legs  broken  upon  the  rack. 


Special  Words  and  Phrases.  353 


NOTE   I. 

SPECIAL  WORDS   AND   PHRASES   IN   THE   EPISTLE. 

Verse  2.  The  true  reading  probably  is  "  to  Apphia  the  sister,^'  not 
"  the  beloved."  Theodore  of  Mopsuestia  hints  that  the  epithet  "  beloved  " 
had  given  rise  to  coarse  sneers  in  his  age,  and  it  may  have  been  so  far 
the  case  at  this  period  also  as  to  make  the  title  "sister"  appropriate 
(Comp.  1  Cor.  ix.  5,  "  to  lead  about  a  Christian  sister  as  a  wife  "). 

Verse  5.  This  verse  should  be  rendered  ^Uhe  faith  which  thou  hast 
towards  the  Lord  Jesus  {npos,  Vulg.  in  Domine  Jesu)  and  (manifested) 
unto  (ety)  all  the  saints  "  (Vulg.  in  omnes  sanctos).  Comp.  Col.  i.  4  ;  there 
the  phrase  is  varied. 

Verse  7.  The  bowels  of  the  saints.  This  literal  translation  has  been 
very  wisely  altered  by  the  R.V.  into  "  the  hearts  of  the  saints."  This 
Epistle  is  characterised  by  the  repetition  of  this  metaphoric  term 
<nr\ayxva  three  times  (verses  7,  12,  20).  It  is  the  Greek  equivalent  of 
the  Hebrew  rechamim. 

Verse  8.  Not  "  though  /  might  have  much  boldness  ; "  (as  in  the 
A.V.),  but  "though  I  have"  {exov). 

Verse  12.  "  Thou  therefore  receive  him."  These  words  {av  8e 
7r po(x'\aj3ov)  are  probably  spurious,  and  were  only  added  to  complete  the 
sense  of  St.  Paul's  careless,  natural,  epistolary  anakoluthon.  The  verse 
should  really  run,  "  I  send  back  to  thee  in  his  own  person,  that  is  my 
very  heart."  Compare  the  Latin  term  of  endearment,  "  Uorculum," 
"  my  little  heart ; "  and  viscera,  used  of  sons.  Ol  naldes  o-nT^dyxva  XtyopTai, 
Artemid.  Oneirocr.  i.  44. 

Verse  11.  "  Onesimus,  who  was  aforetime  to  thee  unprofitahle."  There 
is  clearly  a  play  on  the  name  Onesimos,  "  Helpful,"  as  also  in  verse  20, 
6vai{ir}v,  "  yea,  brother,  let  me  have  help  of  thee."  Baur  acutely  sur. 
mised  another  play  of  words  in  axpr](TTov  .  .  .  evxprjarrov.  "Christus" 
was  often  pronounced  by  Pagans  Chrestus,  so  that  the  adjective  achrestos 
euchrestos,  would  suggest  the  meanings  of  "  non-Christian  "  and  a  "  good 
Christian."  1  (Compare  Whitfield's  pulpit  appeal  to  the  comedian 
Shuter,  who  had  often  played  the  character  of  Ramble.  "  And  thou, 
poor  Ramble,  who  hast  so  often  rambled  from  Him,  oh,  end  thy 
ramblings  and  come  to  Jesus.")  Such  paronomasias  were  quite  in 
accordance  with  Greek,  Latin,  and  Semitic  taste. 

^  Tliis  play  on  words  occurs  in  Just.  Mart.  Apol.  i.  4  ;  Tert.  Apol.  c.  3  ; 
Lactuut.  Instt.  Div.  iv.  7  ;  Theophil.  Ad  Autolyc.  1.  1.  and  i.  12,  &c. 

A  A 


S5-i  Tlie  Epistles. 

I'HiLKMo.v.  Verse  18.  From  the  phrase  ^'■reckon  "  or  ''debit  that  to  me  "  {fX\6yti), 
and  from  the  term  '■'■partner"  {koi.v(ov6v)  in  verse  17,  some  have  (precari- 
ously) inferred  that  St.  Paul  had  pecuniary  relations  with  Philemon, 
perhaps  connected  with  his  trade  of  tent-maker. 


NOTE  11. 

FRIEXDS   OF   ST.    PAUL. 

Most  men  who  kindle  against  them  the  intense  hatred  of  enemies  are 
gifted  with  qualities  which  win  for  them  the  warm  love  of  friends. 
St.  Paul  seems  to  have  made  some  friends  in  nearly  every  city  which  he 
visited. 

Among  them  we  may  mention  : — 

Barnabas  of  Cyprus,  the  friend  of  his  youth. 

Silas  of  Jerusalem,  the  faithful  companion  of  his  second  journey. 

Luke  of  Antioch,  his  beloved  physician  and  friend. 

Timothy  of  Lystra,  his  "dear  son"  and  most  beloved  pupil. 

Titus,  probably  of  Corinth,  a  vigorous  and  practical  helper. 

]\Iark  of  Jerusalem,  who  after  some  wavering,  became  profitable  to 
him  for  ministering. 

Philemon,  Archippus,  Epaphras,  Onesimus  of  Colossae. 

Aristarchus  of  Thessalonica. 

Af^uila  and  Priscilla  in  Corinth  and  Ephesus. 

Tychicus  and  Trophimus  of  Ephesus. 

Apollos  of  Alexandria. 

Erastus  of  Corinth. 

Besides  these  mention  is  made  of  Andrnnicus,  Junias,  Demas,  Crescens, 
Herodion,  Epaphroditus,  Onesipliorus,  Tertius,  Zeuas,  and  others. 


One  of  the  best  books  on  ancient  slavery  is  Wallon,  Flistoire  de 
I'Esclavage.  An  admirable  sketch  of  the  Scriptural  bearings  of  the 
subject  may  be  found  in  Channing's  Remarks  on  Slaves,  and  in  Mr. 
Goldwin  Smith's  pamphlet  Does  the  Bible  Sanction  American  Slavery? 
In  Boissier  La  Religion  romaine,  ii.  345-405,  many  of  the  ancient  loci 
classici  are  collected.  Materials  for  the  picture  abound  in  Plautus, 
Horace,  Seneca,  Petronius,  Juvenal,  Tacitus,  Suetonius,  and  both  the 
elder  and  vouiiu'er  Pliiiv. 


THE  FIRST  EPISTLE  TO  TIMOTHY. 

WRITTEN   FROM   MACEDONIA,   A.D.    63   OR   66. 


tx 


"This  charge  I  commit  to  thee,  son  Timothy." — 1  Tim.  i.  18. 

When  Timothy,  still  in  his  early  boyhood,^  had  once  left  l  timotuy. 
his  Lycaonian  home,  and  been  swept  into  the  vortex  of  St. 
Paul's  fervid  activity,  he  seems  to  have  lived  a  life  of  toil  and 
travel  as  the  almost  inseparable  companion  of  his  beloved 
master  and  father  in  Christ.  Eunice,  his  mother — probably 
his  widowed  mother — and  his  grandmother  Lois,  were  faithful 
Christian  women  well  known  to  St.  Paul.  The  boy  had 
"  followed  from  the  first  St.  Paul's  teaching,  conduct,  purpose, 
faith,  long-suffering,  patience,"  and  had  witnessed  the  bitter 
sufferings  and  persecutions,  which  he  had  to  endure  at  Antioch, 
at  Iconium,  at  Lystra.  It  was  during  the  second  mission 
journey  that  his  mother  made  the  brave  sacrifice  of  her  son 
to  the  cause  of  Christ.  St.  Paul,  in  order  to  fit  him  for  work 
among  Jewish  synagogues,  had  j)erformed  the  rite  of  circum- 
cision,2  which  the  youth's  Greek  father  had  hitherto  neglected 
or  opposed.     By  this  act,  which  had  a  purely  national  and  not 

^  This  appears  from  the  fact  that  he  is  still  addressed  as  a  youth  nearly  six- 
teen years  later,  in  1  Tim.  iv.  12  ;  2  Tim.  ii.  22,  A  critic  sneeringly  says 
tluit  "  the  Timotheus-legend  endowed  him  with  the  gift  of  immortal  youth"  ; 
but  nothing  is  more  natural  than  that  St.  Paul  when  old  would  still  regard  as  a 
youth  one  who  was  still  young  for  his  high  duties,  and  whom  he  seems  to  have 
loved  from  a  child.  The  only  known  dates  in  the  life  of  Timothy  are  those 
in  the  life  of  St.  Paul.  They  were  together  in  the  second  mission  journey,  at 
Philippi,  Corinth,  Ephesus  and  Pome. 

-  2  Tim.  iii,  10,  U. 

A   A    2 


356  The  Epistles. 

1  TIMOTHY,  a  religious  significance,  Timotliy  sided  as  it  were  openly  with 
the  faith  and  the  countrymen  of  his  mother.     The  circumcision 
«L.   ^^,  was  followed  hy  ordination,  in  which  he  made  a  solemn  pro- 
iji.    \y^i  -  fession  of  his  faith  before  the  assembled  Church,  and  when 
_  ^  ^  St.  Paul  and  the  elders  had  laid  their  hands  upon  his  head, 

prophetic  voices  marked  liim  out  for  a  great  work,  and  the 
Grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit  descended  like  a  fire  into  his  heart.^ 
During  the  rest  of  St,  Paul's  journeys  Timotliy  was  generally 
Avith  him,  though  he  was  occasionally  left  behind,  as  at 
Thessalonica,  or  despatched  to  some  other  nascent  Church  to 
consolidate  and  continue  the  work  which  had  been  begun. 
The  name  of  the  young  evangelist  is  associated  witli  that  of 
St.  Paul  in  the  superscrii3tion  of  both  the  letters  to  the 
Thessalonians ;  in  the  second  letter  to  the  Corinthians ;  and 
in  those  to  the  Philippians  and  Colossians ;  and  to  him  are 
addressed  two  of  the  three  Pastoral  Epistles.  He  is  therefore 
connected  with  each  of  the  four  groups  of  St.  Paul's  letters ; 
special  use  was  made  of  his  services  in  organising  the 
Churches  of  Thessalonica,  Corinth  and  Ephesus.  He  was  at 
Ephesus  as  "  Overseer  "  or  Apostolic  commissary  when  this  first 
letter  was  addressed  to  him,  and  from  Ejahesus  he  hurried  at 
the  Apostle's  urgent  request — bringing  wdth  him  the  cloke 
and  books  which  St.  Paul  had  left  with  Carpus  at  Troas — in 
order  to  receive  the  last  instructions,  and  solace  the  last  hours 
of  his  friend.  And  thus,  "  as  a  son  with  a  father  he  slaved 
with  him  for  the  Gospel."  ^  The  effort  was  all  the  nobler 
y  because,  as  we  judge  from  various  allusions,  he  was  naturally 

of  a  timid  and  shrinking  temjjerament.^  This  may  have 
been  partly  due  to  weak  health  and    frequent   attacks  of 

^  '  1  Tim.  vi.  12,  "Thou  didst  make  the  fiiir  confe.ssion  before  many  wit- 

nesses." 1  Tim.  iv.  14,  "The  charism  which  was  given  thee  by  means  of 
prophecy  with  the  hiying  on  of  tlie  hands  of  the  presbytery."  (2  Tim.  i.  6, 
"by  tlie  haying  on  of  my  hands.")  1  Tim.  i.  18,  "According  to  the  prophe- 
cies, which  went  before  on  thee."  2  Tim.  i.  6,  "  To  fan  into  flame  [ava^wKvpi'iv) 
the  charism  of  God  wdiich  is  in  tliee." 

^  Phih  ii.  22,  iSovKevaev  ei's  rb  evayyeKiov. 

'  So  we  infer  from  1  Cor.  iv.  17  ;  xvi.  10,  11,  and  from  the  general  tenor  of 
all  St.  Paul's  ]>ersonal  exhortations  to  him  in  1,  2  Tim.  (1  Tim.  iv.  14-16  ;  vi. 
20  ;  2  Tim.  i.  H  ;  ii.  1-^7  ;  iv.  1,  2,  &c.). 


Heresy  in  Asia.  357 

illness,  which  in  their  turn  may  have  been  caused  by  months  1  timothy. 
of  hardship  in  many  lands  and  under  many  trials.  But  his 
friend  and  teacher  saw  the  depths  of  self-sacrifice  and  the 
capability  of  energetic  work  which  were  latent  in  his  blame- 
less character.^  He  knew  of  no  one  else  who  was  so  absolutely 
unselfish,  or  whose  heart  beat  so  entirely  in  unison  with  his 
own.2  This  was  the  reason  why  he  sent  him  with  perfect 
confidence  to  console  the  j^ersecuted  Churches  of  Macedonia, 
to  face  the  conceited  turbulence  of  Corinth,  and  to  rule  the 
Church  of  Ephesus  with  its  many  troubles  alike  from  the 
worshippers  of  Artemis  and  the  adherents  of  Jewish  priests.^ 

When  St.  Paul,  in  accordance  with  his  own  anticipation, 
had  been  liberated  from  his  first  Roman  imprisonment  ^  he 
visited  Macedonia  and  on  his  way  left  Timothy  in  charge  of 
the  Ephesian  Christians.  The  task  thus  imposed  upon  him 
was  the  more  difficult,  because,  in  addition  to  all  other  sources 
of  peril,  the  growth  of  heresy  in  Asia  became  daily  more 
alarming.  It  was  in  order  to  lighten  these  difficulties  that 
St.  Paul,  from  some  resting-place  in  his  last  missionary 
travels,  wrote  this  letter.^  His  object  was  twofold.  He 
wished  to  give  Timothy  practical  advice  about  the  way  in 
which  he  should  deal  with  the  various  classes  of  men  and 
women  in  the  Church,  and  he  wished  earnestly  to  put  him 
on  his  guard  against  the  false  teachers  who  were  constantly 
acquiring  a  more  formidable  power.  Against  these  heresiarchs 
St.  Paul  had  already  raised  his  voice  in  his  farewell  at  Miletus 
and  in  his  encyclical  letter  to  the  Ephesians.     St.  John  had  > 

spoken  with  yet  sterner  denunciation  in  his  letter  to  the 
Angel  of  the  Church  of  Ephesus  which  is  the  first  of  the 
seven  letters  in  the  Apocalypse. 

'  Acts  xvi.  2.  2  pi,ii_  i;   20. 

"  Acts  xix.  22;  1  Thess.  iii.  2  ;  riiil.  ii.  18-20  ;  1  Cor.  xvi.  10  ;  1  Tim. 
i.  2. 

*  See  note  at  tlie  end  of  the  discourse. 

'  The  place  from  which  the  letter  was  written  is  entirely  unknown.  The 
various  idle  guesses  of  the  unauthorised  superscriptions  say,  "from  Lao- 
dicea;"  "from  Pacatiana  the  capital  of  Phrygia;"  "from  Nicopolis;" 
"from  Athens  :"  and  "from  Macedonia." 


358  The  Epistles. 

The  first  EiDistle  to  Timothy  passes  from  subject  to  subject 
with  all  the  ease  and  familiarity  of  a  private  communication 
written  by  an  old  man  to  a  favourite  disciple.  Its  outline  is 
as  follows : — 

After  the  greeting  (i.  1 — 2)  St.  Paul  at  once  proceeds  to 
renew  the  warning,  which  he  had  already  given  orally  to 
Timothy,  against  the  babbling  and  vain  speculations  of 
giiosticising  Judaists  (3 — 7).  He  lays  down  the  true  func- 
tions of  the  law  (8 — 11),  and  thanks  God  with  a  glowing 
doxology,  for  the  grace  which  had  removed  his  own  former 
ignorance  and  revealed  to  him  the  true  Gospel  (12 — 14). 
After  these  parenthetic,  but  deeply  important,  remarks,  he 
repeats  his  warning  against  those  who  were  undermining  the 
faith  (15—20). 

The  second  chapter  is  devoted  to  rules  about  the  regula- 
tion of  public  worship.  Prayers  are  to  be  offered  for  those 
in  authority,  (1 — 8),  a  rule  from  which  St.  Paul  digresses, 
according  to  his  wont,  into  the  expression  of  precious  truths 
respecting  the  universality  of  God's  offered  grace  (4),  the 
unity  of  God,  the  redemption  of  Christ  (5 — 6),  and  the 
solemn  sanctions  of  his  own  apostolic  office  (7).  The  meii 
are  to  pray  in  every  place,  fearlessly  uplifting  holy  hands 
(8) ;  the  women  are  also  to  pray  in  shamefastness  and 
simplicity,  remembering  alike  their  condition  and  their  hopes 
(9-15). 

The  third  chapter  deals  with  the  qualifications  for  the 
Christian  ministry.  It  sketches  the  ideal  of  the  pastor  and 
presbyter  (iii.  1—7),  of  deacons  (8—10,  12—13)  and  of 
ministering  women  (11).  After  a  personal  message  to 
Timothy  (14 — 15),  the  chapter  ends  with  a  rhythmic 
confession  which  may  possibly  be  the  fragment  of  one  of 
those  ancient  hymns  (16)  which  from  the  earliest  days  have 
formed  so  blessed  a  part  of  Christian  worship. 

The  fourth  and  fifth  chapters  contain  advice  respecting 
the  government  of  the  Christian  community.  Timothy  is 
bidden  to  counteract  the  dualistic  heresies,  the  exaggerated 


Genuineness.  359 

asceticism,  and  the  anile  speculations  of  false  teachers  with  i  TiMOTnv. 
zeal,  study,  and  diligence  (iv.  1 — 16).  He  is  taught  how  he 
should  bear  himself  towards  elders,  and  towards  women  (2), 
especially  towards  widows,  both  aged  and  young  (3 — 16).  A 
few  words  are  added  about  the  maintenance  of  presbyters 
(17 — 18),  about  the  manner  in  which  offenders  are  to  be 
treated  (19 — 20),  and  about  ordination  (21).  The  chapter 
ends  with  two  personal  directions  (22,  23)  and  a  solemn 
remark  about  the  nature  of  different  classes  of  sin  (24—25).^ 

The  sixth  chapter,  after  touching  on  tlie  duties  of  slaves 
towards  their  masters  (vi.  1,  2),  reverts  to  the  false  teachers, 
denouncing  their  insolence,  their  factious  sophistry,  and 
above  all  their  avarice  (3 — 10).  After  a  solemn  adjuration 
to  Timothy  to  continue  steadfast  (11 — 16)  and  parting 
references  (by  way  of  postscript)  to  the  duties  of  the  rich, 
(17_19)  and  to  the  false  teachers  (20,  21)— both  of  which 
were  pressing  considerations  to  a  presbyter  of  Ephesus — the 
Epistle  ends  with  the  brief  blessing  "  Grace  be  with  thee." 

Among  many  noticeable  features  of  this  familiar  and 
friendly  letter  we  may  call  attention  to  the  following : — 

1.  The  difference  between  it  and  some  of  St.  Paul's  other 
Epistles  is  very  marked,  and  yet  it  furnishes  striking  internal 
evidence  of  its  own  genuineness.  It  is  absurd  to  suppose 
that  St.  Paul  could  be  always  at  his  greatest,  or  could  never 
write  anything  less  powerful  and  epoch-making  than  the 
Epistles  to  the  Galatians,  Romans  and  Ephesians.  This  letter 
is  exactly  what  we  should  expect  a  letter  to  be  which  was 
written  by  an  old  man  to  an  intimate  friend  much  younger 
than  himself.  The  manner  is  that  of  an  old  man.  While 
there  is  not  a  trace  of  senility  or  garrulity  in  any  bad  sense, 
the  digressive  style  is  so  exactly  what  we  should  expect  of  one 
who  wrote  under  St.  Paul's  circumstances  that  it  would  have 
required  the  genius  of  a  Shakespeare  to  imitate  the  Apostle's 
ordinary  manner  with  such  perfection  and  yet  to  retain  the 

^  The  connection  of  tlioiiglit  has  been  variously,  but  not  successfully 
explained. 


360  Tlie  Epistles. 

1  TIMOTHY,  wide  differences  caused  by  the  change  of  themes  and  outer 
conditions.  Take  for  instance  the  sixth  chapter.  With  what 
familiar  ease  does  St.  Paul  break  off  his  warning  against  the 
love  of  money  to  pour  forth  his  personal  exhortations !  In 
how  thoroughly  Pauline  a  manner  do  these  exhortations  end 
in  one  of  those  rich  spontaneous  doxologies  in  which  the 
Apostle  relieved  his  over-burdened  heart !  And  there  we 
should  naturally  have  expected  the  Epistle  to  end;  but, 
just  as  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  the  Apostle  cannot 
help  diverging  again  for  a  moment  into  remarks  about  the 
right  use  of  riches  which  were  suggested  by  his  recent 
denunciation  of  covetousness,  he  reverts  in  a  similar 
manner  to  the  warning  against  babblings  and  Gnostic  errors 
which  he  has  so  repeatedly  denounced.  Or  again,  take  the 
intensely  individual  digression  in  i.  12 — 17  with  its  closing 
doxology,  both  so  entirely  in  St.  Paul's  manner,  since  all  his 
theology  is,  in  ultimate  analysis,  the  reflex  of  his  personal 
experience.^ 

Much  stress  has  been  laid  on  what  are  stated  to  be 
un-Pauline  exiDressions.  But  may  we  not  ask,  on  the  other 
hand,  whether  Sifalsarius  would  not  have  been  sure  to  keep 
closely  to  the  matter  and  phraseology  of  St.  Paul  while  it 
would  have  been  impossible  for  him  so  remarkably  to  repro- 
duce his  individual  manner  ?  Would  a  forger  have  gone 
out  of  his  way  to  add  the  touching  word  "mercy,"  to  St. 
Paul's  recognised  greeting  of  "  grace  "  and  "  peace  "  ?  Would 
he  have  ended  his  very  first  sentence  with  an  anacoluthon, 
as  in  verse  4  ?  ^  Could  he  have  caught  the  digressive 
and  personal  style  of  the  allusions  and  asseverations  in 
i.  11,  ii.  7,  which  seem  rather  due  to  past  conflicts  ^  than 
to  any  present  necessity  ?  Would  he  have  been  so  bold  as  to 
make  St.  Paul  call  himself  "  the  chief  of  sinners,"  Avhich  is 

^  Ileuss.  Lcs  Epitres  Paulin.  ii.  352.    For  similar  digressions  and  doxologies, 
Bee  Gal.  i.  12  ;  1  Tliess.  ii.  4  ;  2  Cor.  iii.  0  ;  iv.  1,  &c.;  and  Kom.  xv.  33  ;  xvi. 
7  ;  Phil.  iv.  20,  &c. 
'  Comp.  Gal.  ii.  4,  5  ;  Eom.  v.  12. 
»  Rom.  ix.  1.  2  ;  Cor.  xi.  31. 


Pauline  Style.  861 

far  stronger  than  his  former  saying  that  he  is  "  less  than  the 
least  of  saints "  ?  Would  he  purposely,  by  way  of  mere 
literary  imitation,  have  lost  the  thread  of  his  subject  as  in 
ii.  3 — 7  ?  Would  he  have  said  anything  which  prima  facie 
appears  to  contradict  what  St.  Paul  had  said  to  the  Corinthians 
(1  Cor.  vii.)  about  marriage,  as  in  ii,  15  v.  14  ?  Would 
he  have  written  as  though  he  had  meant  to  end  the  Epistle 
at  iii.  14 — 16,  and  then  had  begun  again  ?  ^  Could  he  have 
introduced  so  casually  the  personal  directions  to  be  pure,  and 
"  not  to  continue  drinking  water,"  as  in  verses  22,  23  ? 
Could  he  have  imagined  that  St.  Timothy  would  need  such 
directions  ?  Is  not  the  latter  advice  just  the  opposite  to 
what  we  should  naturally  have  expected  from  the  former  ? 
Would  any  one  but  St.  Paul  have  addressed  Timothy, 
who  was  now  a  full-grown  man,  as  though  he  was  still  a 
youth  ?  Would  he  have  left  unaltered  the  singular,  but 
quite  Pauline  confusion  of  metaphors  ("treasuring  up  a 
foundation ")  in  vi.  19?  Would  he  not  have  tried  to 
end  with  some  great  climax  or  doxology  and  not  with  a  few 
stray  and  disconnected  remarks  ?  May  it  not  be  safely 
assumed  that  the  writer  who  had  the  piety  to  write  this 
Epistle  and  the  skill  to  forge  it  must  have  been  one  who 
neither  could  nor  would  have  forged  at  all  ?  And  where  in 
the  second  century  is  the  writer  to  be  found  who  either  held 
the  same  sentiments  as  these  or  had  the  power  to  set  them 
forth  with  a  literary  skill  which,  if  he  were  indeed  a  forger, 
must  be  pronounced  to  be  little  short  of  Shakespearian  in 
the  insight  which  it  must  have  required  ? 

2.  For  it  is  a  thoroughly  Pauline  characteristic  that  the 
Epistle  "  abounds  in  memorabilia."  It  seems  as  if  St.  Paul 
was  one  who  could  not  write  the  simplest  letter  without 
uttering  in  the  course  of  it  some  priceless  tnith  which  has 
become  to  the  Church  as  familiar  as  household  words. 

Here  are  a  few  of  these  gems  : 

'  The  same  phenomenon  is  found  markedly  in  1  Thess.  iv.  1  ;  Phil, 
iii.  1. 


362  The  Ejnstles 

1  TIMOTHY.        i.  1.  "  God  our  Saviour  and  Christ  Jesus  our  Hope.'' 

i.  5.  "  But  the  end  of  the  charge  ^  you  are  to  give  is  love 
out  of  a  pure  heart  and  a  good  conscience  and  faith  un- 
feigned." 

i.  15.  "  Faithful  is  the  saying,^  and  worthy  of  all  accepta- 
tion, that  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners ; 
of  whom  I  am  chief." 

ii.  3 — 6.  "  For  this  is  fair  *  and  acceptable  in  the  sight  of 
God  our  Saviour ;  who  willeth  that  all  men  should  be  saved, 
and  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth.  For  there  is  one 
God,  and  one  Mediator  also  between  God  and  men,  himself 
man,^  Christ  Jesus,  who  gave  Himself  a  ransom  for  all ;  the 
testimony  to  be  borne  in  its  own  due  times." 

iii.  16.  "  And  confessedly  great  is  the  mystery  of  godliness  ; 
He  who  was  :  ° 

"  Manifested  in  the  flesh, 
"  Justified  in  the  Spirit,^ 
"  Seen  of  Angels, 
"  Preached  among  the  nations, 
"  Believed  on  in  the  world, 
"  Taken  up  in  glory." 
V.  6.  "  The  wanton,  though  alive,  is  dead  "  (?;  Be  airaTokwca 
^o)aa  TeOvqKe,  an  epigram  at  once  j^rofound  and  brilliant). 

"^  The  nttribntion  of  the  title  "  our  Saviour  "  to  God  is  one  of  the  peculi- 
arities of  the  Pastoral  Epistles  (1  Tim.  iv  10  ;  Tit.  i.  4  ;  ii.  10,  13  ;  iii.  4,  6). 
The  omission  of  the  article  with  this  word  shows  that  it  was  beginning  to  be 
regarded  as  an  appellative.  St.  Paul  perhaps  adopts  both  these  striking  ex- 
pressions from  Ps.  Ixii.  6,  7.  "  God  our  Saviour"  also  occurs  in  Jude  25  ;  2 
Pet.  i.  11.   (Comp.  Luke  i.  47.) 

2  TTJj  7ropa77€Aray  refers  biick  to  "lo  irapayyflXris  in  verse  3. 

3  iriar'bs  d  \6yos.  This  phrase  is  characteristic  of  the  Pastoral  Epistles  (1 
Tim.  iii.  1  ;  iv.  £  ;  2  Tim.  ii.  II  ;  Tit.  iii.  8,  comp.  1  Kings  x.  6).  By  this 
time  (as  we  should  naturally  have  expected)  many  of  the  most  striking  tniths  of 
Christ  had  been  compressed  into  brief  formulae.     Comp.  Rev.  xxi.  5  ;  xxii.  6. 

*  Ka\6v. 

*  Here  the  word  one  may  be  emphatic  (Col.  ii.  15-18),  and  the  word 
man  may  be  aimed  at  Docetic  views. 

6  There  can  be  little  doubt  left  that  2y  not  ®eU  is  the  true  reading  in 
the  passage.  The  "  Mystery  of  God"  is  Christ.  Col.  ii.  2.  (On  the  hym- 
nic  form  see  Eph.  v.  19).  The  passage  is  closely  analogous,  line  for  line,  with 
1  Pet.  iii.  18,  19,  22. 

■^  See  Rom.  i.  4. 


Phrases  and  Thoiujhts,  3G3 

vi.  6.  "  But  godliness  witb  contentment  is  great  gain." 

vi.  10.  "  For  a  root  of  all  kinds  of  evils  is  the  love  of  money." 

vi.  12.  "  Figlit  the  good  fight  of  the  faith ;  lay  hold  on  the 
life  eternal,  whereunto  thou  wast  called." 

Might  we  not  ransack  all  the  extant  writings  of  the  first, 
second,  and  third  centuries,  and  yet  fail  to  find  such  pearls  of 
great  price  as  these  ?  Could  an  equal  number  of  sayings  of 
the  same  value  be  collected  in  all  the  writing  of  Confucius  ? 

3.  Among  expressions  which  characterise  this  and  the 
other  Pastoral  Epistles  we  may  notice  (besides  "  God  our 
Saviour"  and  "Faithful  is  the  saying") — 

a.  "  The  faith,"  to  express  a  body  of  Christian  truth  (i.  19, 
iii.  9,  iv.  1-6,  v.  8,  vi.  10,  12,  21). 

jS.  "  Grace,  mercy,  peace  "  (i.  1,  2). 

7.  "  Doctrine,"  "  teaching,"  "  the  sound  doctrine."  The 
word  means  both  "instruction"  (Rom.  xv.  9,  1  Tim.  iv.  13, 
16,  V.  17)  and  the  doctrine  taught  (i.  10,  iv.  6,  v.  17). 

5.  "  Godliness''  (evae^eia,  ii.  2,  10,  iii.  16,  iv.  7,  8 ;  v.  4,  vi. 
3,  5,  6,  11) ;  deoae^eia,  ii.  10.  This  word  occurs  ten  times  in 
these  Ej)istles,  and  only  five  times  in  all  the  rest  of  the  New 
Testament,  four  of  those  instances  being  in  2  Peter  and 
one  in  Acts. 

e.  "The  devil"  (iii.  6,  7.  Comp.  Ej^h.  iv.  27,  vi.  11). 
Elsewhere  St.  Paul  uses  Satan. 

^.  The  word  "Mediator''  as  applied  to  Christ.  The  idea 
however  is  Pauhne  (Rom.  v.  10,  2  Cor.  v.  19),  and  the  word 
itself  (Gal.  iii.  19,  20).     Compare  Hebrews  viii.  6,  xii.  24. 

77.  The  abverb  "  really  "  (6Vt&j?)  :  "  that  which  is  really  life," 
vi.  19,  "  really  widows,"  v.  3. 

The  word  neophyte  occurs  for  the  first  time  in  this  Epistle, 
iii.  6. 

We  may  also  notice  the  bold  universalism  of  the  expressions 
in  ii.  4,  "whose  will  it  is  that  all  men  be  saved,"  and  iv.  10, 
"the  Saviour  of  all  men,  specially  of  the  faithful"  (comp. 
Tit.  ii.  11).  To  these  we  must  add  such  words  as  "other- 
teaching  ; "  "  myths  ;  "  "  boundless  genealogies ; "  "  vain  talk- 


8G4  The  Ejustlcs. 

1  TIMOTHY,  ing;"  " j^rofane  emptinesses  of  speech,"  "profane  anile 
(ypacoSeit;)  myths,"  and  others  which  are  used  to  describe 
and  denounce  the  false  teachers.  What  is  the  exact  meaning 
of  '  myths"  and  "genealogies"  we  cannot  say,  since  we  are 
ignorant  of  the  condition  of  heresy  at  this  epoch.  All  that 
we  can  say  is  that  "  legendary  stories,"  to  which  the  name 
"myths"  might  well  be  given,  seem  to  have  abounded  among 
the  Jews  since  the  days  of  the  captivity.  "Myths"  might 
be  the  Greek  rendering  of  the  Jewish  ''  Hagadoth."  Those  who 
doubt  the  genuineness  of  this  Epistle  think  that  "  boundless 
genealogies  "  applies  to  the  system  of  emanating  and  inter- 
marrying Aeons  invented  by  Valentinus.  But,  on  the  one 
hand,  if  this  Epistle  had  been  aimed  at  these  later  heresies 
it  would  have  been  far  too  vague  to  be  efficacious,  and  it  has 
no  allusion  to  a  develojied  Gnosticism ;  and  on  the  other 
there  are  in  the  Jewish  Kabala  genealogies  of  various 
kinds  wliich  may  have  had  their  prototype  in  very  early  days. 
When  Timothy  is  bidden  to  avoid"  oppositions  of  the  falsely- 
named  gnosis  "  (vi.  20),  Baur  and  others  think  that  there  is 
an  allusion  to  the  book  of  Marcion  called  Antitheses,  in  which 
by  a  series  of  parallel  quotations — much  after  the  fashion  of 
Abelard's  Sic  et  non — he  tried  to  show  the  irreconcilable 
antagonism  of  the  Old  and  New  Test.aments.^  But  there  is 
no  allusion  whatever  in  this  Epistle  either  to  this  or  to  other 
special  views  of  Marcion,  and  it  is  doubtful  whether  "  anti- 
theses "  here  means  anything  more  than  the  opi^ositions  of 
false-called  knowledge  to  the  true  knowledge  and  full  know- 
ledge (i7rLyvo)ai<i)  of  the  faith  of  Christ,  When  Baur  tries 
to  extort  an  allusion  to  Valentiniauism  out  of  the  casual 
expression  "  to  the  king  of  the  ages "  (of  the  aeons,  i.e.  of 
the  world  as  manifested  in  time)  he  finds  hardly  any  one  to  see 
any  force  in  his  suggestion.  The  phrase  may  very  possibly 
have  been  derived  simply  from  Psalm  cxlv.  13,  "  Thy  kingdom 
is  a  kingdom  of  all  ages." 

'  Tert.  c.  Marc.  i.  19  ;   Hippolytus,  PhiJoi'ophnmenn,  vii.   30.     The  frag- 
ments of  Marcion's  Antitheses  have  been  collected  by  Hahn,  1823. 


Difficulties.  365 

There  are  one  or  two  passages  which  require  special 
explanation  of  the  difficulties  which  have  been  raised 
respecting  them. 

a.  One  of  these  is  ii.  15,  "But  she  shall  he  saved  through 
the  child-bearing,  if  they  continue  in  faith  and  love  and 
sanctification  with  sobriety." 

"  The  child-bearing "  may  mean  no  more  than  "  child- 
bearing  "  regarded  in  the  abstract.  St.  Paul  perhaps  merely 
meant  to  say  (in  accordance  with  the  general  meaning  of 
the  context)  that  a  married  life,  together  with  the  duties  of 
motherhood,  is,  as  a  rule  (Gen.  iii.  16),  the  appointed  path 
for  woman,  and  will  end  in  her  salvation  if  it  be  pursued 
in  humble  holiness.^  Most  ancient  and  modern  commen- 
tators make  it  mean  "  through  the  child-bearing,"  i.e.  the 
Incarnation.  This  surely  would  be  to  h^y  a  very  undue 
emphasis  on  the  article,  and  the  truth  would  then  be  ex- 
pressed very  obscurely.  As  the  "  faith  "  and  "  love  "  which 
he  speaks  of  must  have  an  object  no  one  could  mistake  St. 
Paul  to  mean  that  motherhood  in  itself  had  any  saving 
power. 

/S.  iii.  13.  The  curious  expression,  "a  good  degree"  seems 
to  mean  no  more  than  "  a  fair  standing-point,"  "  an  honour- 
able position."    Comp.  vi.  19. 

<y.  iii.  15,  "  That  thou  mayest  know  how  to  behave  in  the 
house  of  God,  which  is  the  Church  of  the  living  God,  the 
2nllar  and  ground  of  the  truth." 

This  verse  offers  several  difficulties.  It  may  mean  "how 
tho^L  oughtest,"  or  "  how  men  ought  "  to  behave  in  the  house 
of  God ;  and  it  is  by  no  means  clear  whether  "  the  pillar  and 
ground  of  the  truth  "  is  in  apposition  to  "  the  Church,"  or 
whether  the  verse  should  be  rendered  and  punctuated,  "  how 
to  bear  thyself  in  the  House  of  God — seeing  that  it  is  (77Ti<?) 
the  Church  of  the  living  God — as  a  pillar  and  basis  of  the 
truth." 

If  the  Church  is  here  called  "the  pillar  and  stay  of  the 

^  Comp.  Y,  14,  fiov\o(j.ai  olv  vionipas  ya^xuv,  reKvoyovi'iv. 


366  The  Epistles. 

1  TIMOTHY,  truth"  (for  such  in  any  case  must  be  the  meaning  of 
eSpaicofia),  the  expression  is  one  of  the  least  PauUne,  the  most 
difficult  and  the  most  modern  in  these  Epistles.  It  is  so 
unlike  anything  which  St.  Paul  anywhere  says,  that  it  would 
certainly  add  to  the  strength  of  the  suspicions  which  attach 
to  the  genuineness  of  the  Ei^istle.  In  that  case  this  verse 
might  have  led  Schleiermacher  (for  the  first  time  in  many 
centuries)  to  feel  a  hesitation  on  the  subject  far  more  natu- 
rally than  the  word  "  to  teach  a  different  doctrine,"  ^  which 
excited  his  doubts.  It  would,  moreover,  be  an  excessively 
clumsy  anti-climax — amounting  to  positive  confusion  of 
thought — to  speak  of  the  Church  first  as  the  House  of 
God  and  then  as  a  pillar  and  stay  of  the  House.  On  the 
other  hand,  all  difficulties  vanish  if  we  refer  the  words  to 
Timothy,  who  is  here  bidden  to  bear  himself  as  an  upholder 
and  support  of  the  truth.  The  parallel  expressions  in  Gal.  ii. 
9,  Eph.  ii.  20,  Rev.  iii.  12  are  in  each  case  used  with  reference 
to  persons ;  and  these  very  words  were  applied  to  the 
martyr  Attains  in  the  letter  of  the  Church  of  Lyons  and 
Vienne  (c.  v.). 

5.  V.  18.  "  The  scripture  says,  Thou  shalt  not  muzzle  a 
threshing  ox  "  (Deut.  xxv.  4).  "  And,  The  labourer  is  worthy 
of  his  hire." 

It  has  been  urged  that  St.  Luke's  Gospel  (x.  7)  is  here 

quoted  as  Scripture,  and  that  therefore  the  Epistle  must  be 

^  later  than  St.  Paul's  day.     "  But  the  Scripture  saith  "  may 

only  apply  to  the  first  clause.     The  second  seems  to  have 

been  a  current  proverb. 

6.  V.  21.  "  In  the  sight  of  .  .  .  .  the  elect  angels," 

This  appeal  is  unusual,  but  is  quite  in  accordance  with 
St,  Paul's  training  and  beliefs.^  It  is  also  in  accordance 
with  the  ideas  of  this  epoch,  for  King  Agrippa  invoked  "  the 
holy  angels "  in  his  appeal  to  the  Jews  not  to  rebel.^     The 

'  i.  3,  lT6po5i8o(r*caA.«ri'. 

"  1  Cor.  xi.  10  ;  1  Pet.  i.  12.    Comp.  Tobit  .xii.  15. 

8  Jos.  B.  J.  ii.  16. 


Phrases  and  Thoughts.  867 

word  "  elect "  seems  to  be  no  more  than  a  general  epithet  of  i 
excellence. 

The  passage  in  iv.  4,  "  Every  creature  of  God  is  good,  and 
nothing  to  be  rejected,  if  it  be  received  with  thanksgiving," 
is  interesting  because,  as  Dr.  Field  has  pointed  out,  it  is 
possibly  a  j^roverbial  expression  which  had  its  origin  in 
Horner.^ 

The  "  delivering  to  Satan,"  in  i.  19,  is  probably  a  form  of 
excommunication,  which  was  believed  to  be  accompanied 
indeed  by  penal  bodily  suffering,  but  which  was  mercifully 
designed  as  a  means  of  leading  back  offenders  to  repentance. 

The  genuineness  of  the  Epistle  will  further  be  examined 
in  the  note,  and  we  have  every  reason  to  accept  the  ancient 
testimony  of  the  Muratorian  fragment :  "  An  Epistle  to  Titus 
and  two  to  Timothy,  written  out  of  personal  feeling  and 
regard,  are  still  honoured  in  the  respect  of  the  Catholic 
Church  in  the  arrangement  of  ecclesiastical  discipline,"  ^ 

^  Iliad,  iii.  65. 

2  See  "VVestcott  on  the  Canon,  p.  217.  The  origmalis,  "  Et  at  titu  una  et  ad 
tymotheii  duas  pro  affecto  et  dilcctioue  in  honoie  tamen  ecclesiae  catholice  iu 
ordinatione  ecclesiastica." 


3G3  The  Epistles. 


NOTE  I. 
ST.  Paul's  second  imprisonment,  and  the  genuineness  op  the 

PASTORAL   EPISTLES. 

It  has  for  centuries  been  the  common  belief  of  the  Church  that  after 
having  pleaded  his  cause  before  Nero,  or  before  those  whom  Nero  left  in 
charge  of  Rome  during  his  disgraceful  expedition  to  Greece,^  St.  Paul 
was  acquitted  and  set  free.  This  must  have  taken  place  early  in  A.D.  64. 
Had  it  been  later,  St.  Paul  must  inevitably  have  perished  in  the  fiery 
horror  of  the  Neronian  prosecution. 

The  belief  in  his  liberation  at  least  accords  with  his  own  confident 
and  twice-expressed  anticipation  to  the  Philippians  (i.  25,  27),  and  to 
Philemon  (verse  22).  So  strong  were  his  reasons  for  expecting  an 
acquittal  that  he  even  requested  Philemon  to  provide  a  lodging  for  him 
on  his  expected  visit  to  Colossae. 

Of  course  this  hope  may  have  been  disappointed  ;  but  if  St.  Paul's 
trial  was  finished  before  the  Fire  of  Rome,  the  deficiency  of  evidence 
against  him,  or  the  testimony  of  Festus,  Agrippa,  Lysias,  and  the  cen- 
turion Julius,  may  have  secured  the  recognition  of  his  innocence. 
Further,  he  may  have  been  aided  by  the  very  favourable  impression 
which  he  had  made  on  the  soldiers  of  the  Praetorian  guard,  or  by  some 
of  the  humble  converts  in  the  households  of  Caesar  and  Narcissus — if 
the  latter  be  the  famous  freedman  of  Claudius.*  We  might  even  con- 
jecture that  the  case  against  him  practically  collapsed,  if  any  of  the 
witnesses  or  documents  were  on  their  way  to  Rome  in  that  vessel  in 
which  about  this  time  Josephus  sailed  to  secure  the  release  of  certain 
Jewish  priests.  The  prosecution  of  St.  Paul  may  have  been  a  subordinate 
object  of  that  expedition.  But  the  vessel  foundered  at  sea,  and  out  of 
200  souls,  eighty  alone — of  whom  Josephus  was  one— were  rescued, 
after  having  Uoated  or  swum  all  night  in  the  waves.^ 

Wliile,  however,  there  is  great  probability  in  the  belief  that  St.  Paul 
was  liberated,  and  that  he  enjoyed  two  years  of  missionary  freedom 
before  his  arrest  at  Troas  and  his  second  imprisonment  at  Rome,  the 
external  historic  evidence  in  favour  of  these  events  is  unhappily  weak. 

1  Clement  of  Kome  says  that  he  "bore  witness"  (fiaprvpfiffas)  "before  the 
mlers  "  (M  rZv  riyovfifvav).  Tlie  verb  /xapTvpeo)  may  here  have  its  ordinary 
sense.  'Uyov/xevot  m<ay  be  a  general  word,  but,  if  meant  to  be  taken  strictly, 
may  refer  to  llelius  and  Polycletus,  or  TigelUnus  and  Nyniiihidius  Sabiuus 
who  were  regents  during  Nero's  absence. 

"  Narcissus  himself  by  this  time  was  dead. 

8  Jos.  Fit.  3. 


St.  Pauls  Liberation.  369 

St.  Luke,  who  could  so  well  have  informed  us,  suddenly  drops  the  i  timothy. 
curtain  upon  St.  Paul  with  the  one  emphatic  word  unmolested ly  (d/cco- 
XvTcos),  when  he  describes  the  comparative  lenity  of  the  early  part  of 
St.  Paul's  imprisonment.  Perhaps  the  prisoner's  sufferings  were  aggra- 
vated when  the  upright  and  honourable  Burrhus  had  been  superseded 
in  the  Praefectorship  of  the  Praetorian  guard  by  the  villainous 
Tigellinus. 

The  only  other  evidence  we  have  is 

(1)  A  vague  and  rhetorical  passage  of  Clement  of  Rome  in  the  first 
century  (Ep.  1,  ad  Cor.  5),  in  which  the  liberation  is  perhaps  implied, 
but  which  is  too  general  and  uncertain  to  have  much  weight. 

(2)  A  phrase  in  the  fragment  of  the  Muratorian  Canon  (about  A.D. 
170),  which  perhaps  implies  his  voyage  to  Spain,  but  in  which  the  text 
is  corrupt  and  the  meaning  uncertain. 

(3)  A  direct  statement  of  Eusebius  in  the  fourth  century,  and  of  St. 
Chrysostora  and  St.  Jerome  in  the  fifth.^ 

Unhappily  the  historic  value  of  this  evidence  is  almost  nil.  If,  then, 
we  believe  that  St.  Paul  was  liberated,  our  belief  rests  on  other 
grounds. 

Those  grounds  are  the  intrinsic  probability  of  the  fact ;  St.  Paul's 
owTi  confident  expectation  that  it  would  be  so  ;  the  generality  of  the 
tradition  ;  and  above  all,  the  Pastoral  Epistles. 

If  the  Pastoral  Epistles  be  genuine  they  must  have  been  written 
after  his  liberation  ;  the  First  to  Timothy,  and  that  to  Titus  during 
fresh  travels  ;  and  the  Second  to  Timothy  during  his  second  imprison- 
ment, just  before  his  death.  No  other  place  can  be  found  for  them  in 
the  records  of  St.  Paul's  life.  If  they  were  not  written  after  a.d.  64, 
we  must  then  be  driven  to  the  reluctant  conclusion  that  they  are  not 
from  the  hand  of  St.  Paul. 

To  the  present  writer  the  conviction  that  those  Epistles  are  genuine 
certifies  the  tradition  that  St.  Paul  was  set  free,  and  escaped  the  Nero- 
nian  persecution  to  meet  his  final  martyrdom  about  a.d.  68. 

In  the  first  place  the  Epistles  are  well  authenticated  by  external  evi- 
dence. It  is  said  that  the  First  Epistle  to  Timothy  bears  marks  of 
spuriousness,  and  therefore  drags  the  other  two  into  the  same  condemna- 
tion. On  the  contrary,  it  seems  to  me  that  the  other  two,  especially  the 
Second  to  Timothy,  are  quite  indisputably  genuine,  and  that  they  carry 
with  them  the  acceptance  of  the  First.  But,  even  in  favour  of  the  First 
we  can  quote  a  clear  allusion  in  Clement  of  Rome,  and  quotations  by 
Ignatius,  Polycarp,  Hegesippus,  Athenagoras,  Irenaeus,  Clemens  of 
Alexandria,  Theophilus  of  Antioch,  and  perhaps  Justin  Martyr.  It  is 
accepted  by  the  Peshito,  and  mentioned  in  the  Muratorian  Canon,  while 

1  Chrys.  ad  2  Tim.  iv.  20  ;  Jer.  Catal.  Script.  See  "Iso  Tert.  Scorp.  15 ; 
De  Praescr.  36  ;  Lactant.  Dc  Mort.  Pcrscc.  2. 

B  B 


370  The  Epistles. 

1  ri.MOTiiY.    there  is  little  or  no  siguificanco  iu   its  rejection  by  the  heretics  Marcion 
and  Tiitian. 

From  internal  evidence  it  is  argued  that 

1.  T/tci/  are  inferior  to  St.  Paul's  greatest  ivritings. 

This  is  an  argument  of  no  value.  No  author  is  always  at  his  best  and 
greatest,  and  these  were  private  letters  to  dear  friends.  They  stood  on 
quite  a  different  footing  from  the  letters  to  great  Churches  on  controverted 
themes.  Yet  no  one  has  said  that  the  style  differs  from  that  of  Paul. 
Almost  any  reader  can  see  in  the  original  the  radical  difference  of  style 
between  St.  Paul's  Epistles  and  that  to  the  Hebrews  ;  and  between  the 
first  and  the  second  Epistles  of  St.  Peter  ;  and  between  the  Apocalypse 
and  Gospel  of  St.  John.  In  the  latter  instance  the  difference  can  be 
accounted  for,  and  in  the  former  it  may  perhaps  be  explained.  But  no 
one  can  read  the  Pastoral  Epistles  without  admitting  that  if  the  style  be 
an  imitation  it  is  an  imitation  transcendently  skilful,  and  without  sus- 
pecting that  those  flashes  of  deep  feeling,  those  outbursts  of  intense 
expression,  those  majestic  doxologies,  those  simple  and  beautiful  ideals 
of  work  and  character,  those  swift,  perfect,  unfaltering  summaries  of 
Christian  truth  could  only  have  come  from  the  master's  hand.  It  is 
remarkable  that  not  a  few  critics  who  have  rejected  the  Epistles  as  a 
whole,  have  yet  been  driven  to  plead  for  the  authenticity  of  certain  parts 
of  them,  which  they  feel  could  only  have  been  written  by  St.  Paul. 

2.  But  they  abound  in  isolated  expressions  not  found  elsewhere  in  St. 
Paid's  im'itings.^ 

This  in  no  way  proves  spurioupness,  since  there  are  similar  imique 
expressions  {hapax  legomena)  in  every  one  of  St.  Paul's  Epistles,  three  in 
the  Romans,  and  six  even  in  the  few  sentences  addressed  to  Philemon. 
St.  Paul  was  linguistically  susceptible.  Like  other  men  of  genius  he 
often  assimilated  new  words  and  phrases.  "  In  a  fresh  and  vigorous 
style,"  says  Alford,  "  there  will  always  be  lihrations  over  any  rigid  limits 
of  habitude  which  can  be  assigned  ;  and  such  are  to  be  judged  of,  not 
by  their  mere  occurrence  or  number,  but  by  their  subjective  character 
being  or  not  being  in  accordance  with  the  writer's  well  known  character- 
istics," 

*  Such  as  "piety"  {evaeffeia,  evcreBois,  eixrefieli').  The  word  may  (as  Pflei- 
derer  suggests)  have  been  taken  as  the  fundamental  idea  of  the  Christian  life, 
as  the  word  "faith"  became  gradually  appropriated  to  express  a  body  of 
doctrines. 

"  Soundness"  (vyiiis,  vyiaivetv)  1  Tim.  i.  10  ;  vi.  3  ;  2  Tim.  i.  13  ;  Tit.  i.  9, 
13  ;  ii.  2,  8  ;  and  as  natural  antitheses,  vo<ra>,  ydyypaiya.  These  words,  as  well 
as  the  new  phrases,  irapciTuaQai,  Trpotxix^^"  '''"">  ^'^y  have  been  picked  up  from 
intercourse  with  St.  Luke. 

Master  {Seo-TrJrTjs"),  2  Tim.  ii.  21,  for  Kvpios,  Lord.  As  kvows  became  more 
and  more  a  proi)er  name,  SeaTr6TTjs  was  wanted. 

"  To  deny  "  {apvf:aeai),  1  Tim.  v.  8  ;  ii.  12, 13,  &c.,  in  the  sense  of  renomicing 
truth. 

For  other  expressions  see  the  Note  to  the  Kpistle  of  Titus. 

Technical  terms,  due  to  special  subjects,  fall  under  a  diti'erent  head. 


Genuineness.  371 

3.  But  the  theology  of  these  Epistles  differs  from  that  of  Paul. 

This  assertion  is  not  true.  It  is  absurd  to  stigmatise  the  dominantly 
practical  tendency  of  these  Epistles  as  "  utilitarianism  and  religious  eu- 
daemonism,"  when  good  works,  though  profitless  to  deserve  salvation, 
are  insisted  on  as  a  moral  necessity  in  every  one  of  St.  Paul's  Epistles. 
To  say  that  a  difference  of  theology  is  involved  in  the  new  use  of 
"Saviour"  as  applied  to  God  ;  in  the  greater  objectivity  of  the  word 
"  faith  ;  "  and  in  the  phrase  "  the  sound  doctrine,"  is  to  ignore  the  simple 
fact  that  the  circumstances  of  the  Church  progressed  with  great  rapidity 
during  its  earliest  days,  and  that  even  in  St.  Paul's  day,  and  tlirough  his 
powerful  influence,  the  struggle  between  Paulinism  and  Jewish  Christi- 
anity gave  way  to  the  deadlier  struggle  between  heresy  and  the 
Church. 

4.  But  these  Epistles  hetray  the  existence  of  an  ecclesiastical  organisa- 
tion more  developed  than  that  which  existed  in  the  days  of  St.  Paul. 

So  far  as  this  is  at  all  true  it  is  exactly  what  we  should  expect.  Every 
year  that  a  Church  existed  there  would  be  a  more  pressing  necessity  for 
Church  government  and  order.  On  the  other  hand  the  simplicity  of  the 
organisation  alluded  to  in  these  Epistles,  the  fact  that  there  is  no  trace 
of  predominant  episcopal  authority,  and  that  the  names  "  bishop  "  and 
"presbyter"  are  still  synonymous  (1  Tim.  iii.  1-19  ;  Tit.  i.  5-7),  furnish 
the  strongest  proof  that  these  letters  could  not  possibly  have  been  vsrritten 
in  the  second  century.  The  "  crushing  despotism "  of  an  irresponsible 
Episcopate  had  not  yet  begun.  The  directions  given  to  the  presbyter- 
bishop  are  ethical,  not  hierarchic.^ 

5.  The  Epistles  are  aimed  at  phases  of  gnosticism  which  did  not  exist 
till  the  second  century. 

The  proof  that  this  is  the  case  wholly  fails.  It  is  founded  on  the 
flimsiest  inferences  from  such  words  as  "  aeons,"  "gnosis,"  "  antitheses," 
which  were  borrowed  by  gnosticism  from  Scripture.  The  germs  of 
gnosticism — the  systems  and  ideas  prevalent  in  that  vague  form  of 
heretical  teaching — have  existed  in  many  ages,  and  countries,  and 
religions,  and  philosophies.  They  were  familiar  to  the  Essenes,  to  the 
Greek  philosophers,  to  Oriental  mystics,  to  Alexandrian  theosophists,  to 
Simon  Magus,  to  Cerinthus,  and  many  others.  "VVe  find  traces  of  them  in 
the  Epistles  to  the  Ephesians,  Colossians,  Philippians,  and  even  in  those 
to  the  Corinthians,  as  well  as  in  the  letters  of  St.  Peter,  St.  Jude,  and 
St.  John.  This  argument,  like  the  last,  rather  tells  the  other  way.  If 
these  Epistles  had  been  second-century  forgeries,  they  would  not  have 
dealt  so  vaguely  with  such  definite  errors  as  those  of  Valentinus, 
Carpocrates,  &c. 

The  Gnostics  as  a  body  were,  in  the  second  century,  intensely  anti- 

1  The  argument  founded  on  the  fancy  that  "the  widows  "  of  1  Tim.  v.  11-14 
meant,  as  in  later  times  (Ignat.  Jd  Smyrn.  13),  a  sort  of  celibate  order  of 
vu-gins  is  contradicted  by  the  plainest  facts. 

B   B   2 


372  The  Epistles. 

1  TIMOTHY.  Judaic.  The  incipient  Gnostics  of  these  Epistles  are,  on  the  contrary, 
Judaisers,  who  liave  affinities  alike  with  the  Kabalists,  the  Pharisees, 
and  the  Essenes.'  Lipsius  "  sees  in  the  false  teachers  of  these  Ej^istles  "  a 
development  of  the  same  Essene  Jewish  Christianity  as  that  of  the  false 
teachers  of  the  Colossians."  In  theory  they  were  ascetic  (i.  Tim.  iv.  3,  8) 
and  dualistic  (1  Tim.  iv.  4 ;  Tit.  i.  15,  16  ;  2  Tim.  ii.  18)  ;  in  character 
they  were  impure,  covetous,  disorderly,  and  given  to  idle  disputes 
(2  Tim.  iii.  1-7  ;  vi.  6  ;  Tit.  i.  10,  11  ;  iii.  9  ;  2  Tim.  i.  23  ;  vi.  20).  It 
was  needless  for  St.  Paul  to  discuss  their  views.  lie  is  not  writing  to 
them,  but  lo  his  apostolic  delegates  Timotheus  and  Titus,  who  were 
perfectly  well  acquainted  with  all  his  views.  To  the  heretical  doctrines 
of  opponents  he  has  only  to  oppose  the  sound  doctrine  of  the  Church  of 
God,  and  to  their  moral  aberrations  the  rules  of  practical  piety. 

The  Epistles  stand  or  fall  together.  Even  the  most  "advanced"  and 
ho.stile  critics  are  prepared  to  admit  the  genuineness  of  the  Second 
Epistle  to  Timothy.3  But  if  that  be  genuine,  St.  Paul  must  have  been 
liberated  before  the  Neronian  persecution,  and  the  case  in  favour  of  the 
two  other  Epistles  is  greatly  strengthened.  The  power,  beauty,  and 
value  of  the  Epistles  is  their  best  attestation.  Dr.  Wace  says  truly  that 
"  the  sacred  writings  are  throughoiit  characterised  by  a  wonderful  com- 
bination of  the  loftiest  faith  in  the  mysteries  of  godliness  with  profound 
practical  ^^^sdom  ;  and  it  is  a  combination  of  which  no  instance  can  be 
shown  in  those  apocryphal  and  forged  productions  among  which  it  has 
been  attempted  to  range  tlie.se  Epistles." 

^  "Jewish  myths,"  Tit.  i.  14.  "  Teachers  of  the  law,"  1  Tim.  i.  7.  "Strifes 
about  the  law,  "Tit.  iii.  9  ;  1  Tim.  i.  8. 

^  Dcr  Gnosticisvius  (in  Ersch.  u.  Gnihcr) 

3  The  extreme  frivolity  of  some  of  the  arguments  urged  against  these 
Epistles  is  illustrated  (1)  by  Baur's  suggestion  on  1  Tim.  ii.  2  that  "kings"  (a 
common  term  in  tlie  jjrovinces  for  local  dynasts  and  even  for  the  Roman 
Emperor)  refers  to  the  times  of  the  Antonincs,  wlien  emperors  took  associates 
into  the  empire  1  and  (2)  by  Pfleiderer's  remark  on  the  same  verse  {Protestavtcn 
Bibcl)  that  it  refers  to  the  time  of  Hadrian,  who  befriended  Chi-istians. 


THE  EPISTLE  TO  TITUS. 

WRITTEN   PROBABLY   FROM  MACEDONIA  ABOUT   A.D.    66. 

"  Speak  thou  the  things  which  become  the  healthy  teaching." — Tit.  ii.  1. 

If  St.  Paul  was  enabled  to  carry  out  the  plans  which  he 
had  formed  in  his  first  imprisonment,  he  sailed  to  Ephesus 
shortly  after  his  release,  and  then  for  the  first  time  paid  his 
promised  visit  to  Colossae  and  the  other  cities  of  the  Lycus 
valley.  Leaving  Timothy  at  Ephesus  to  preside  over  the 
Church,  he  set  out  for  Macedonia.  His  work  in  Syria  was 
finished.  It  is  most  unlikely  that  he  ever  again  saw  Caesarea 
or  Jerusalem.  Persecution  was  at  this  time  raging  in  the 
Holy  City.  The  Sicarii — a  band  of  zealots  who  resorted  to 
secret  assassination — were  filling  the  whole  country  with 
terror.^  James,  the  Lord's  brother,  had  recently  been 
murdered  .2  The  Apostle  could  never  again  have  visited  the 
Temple  with  impunity.  His  life  could  not  have  been  safe 
for  a  moment  in  the  recrudescence  of  Jewish  fanaticism 
which  marked  the  outbreak  of  the  last  rebellion.  If  the 
"  many  thousands  "  of  Christian  Jews  had  not  raised  a  voice 
or  lifted  a  finger  for  him  when  he  was  nearly  torn  to  pieces 
in  A.D.  60,  they  would  certainly  have  been  powerless  to 
defend  him  in  A.D.  66.  If  even  James  had  fallen  a  victim, 
what  chance  would  there  have  been  for  Paul  ? 

We  do  not  know  the  circumstances  which  took  the  Apostle 

to  Crete.     From  Macedonia  he  would  in  all  probability  take 

1  Jos.  B.  J.  ii.  14,  §  2. 

»  A.D.  63.     Jos.  Anil.  XX.  9,  §§  1,  2. 


374  Tlie  Epistles. 

liis  old  route  to  Corinth,  and  from  thence  it  would  have  been 
an  easy  sail  to  the  great  island.  Christianity  had  already 
been  established  under  the  shadow  of  the  ancient  Ida,  in  all 
l^robability  by  some  of  the  Jews  who  had  been  converted  on 
the  day  of  Pentecost.^  But  the  Church  needed  organization, 
and  for  this  reason  St.  Paul  left  Titus  to  superintend  the 
infant  communities,  and  "  to  ordain  elders  in  every  city." 

During  the  last  year  of  his  missionary  activity  we  only  catch 
an  occasional  glimpse  of  him.  We  see  him  still  burdened 
with  the  care  of  all  the  Churches.  We  still  find  him 
surrounded  by  a  little  band  of  devoted  friends,  whose  presence 
and  support  were  more  than  ever  necessary  to  him  in  his 
broken  health  and  advancing  years,  and  one  or  other  of  whom 
he  constantly  despatched  from  his  side  on  some  errand  of 
importance.  The  immediate  occasion  for  writing  this  letter 
to  Titus  was  to  announce  that  he  meant  to  send  either 
Artemas  or  Tychicus  to  replace  him  in  Crete.  He  wished 
Titus  to  rejoin  him  in  Nicopolis — the  famous  Epirote  city 
which  Augustus  had  built  to  celebrate  his  victory  at  Actium. 
At  that  city,  which  he  may  have  visited  m  the  journey  which 
took  him  as  far  as  to  Illyricum,  he  intended  to  spend  the 
winter.2 

Of  all  tlie  companions  who  surrounded  St.  Paul,  Titus 
seems  to  have  been  the  most  respected  for  his  practical 
vigour  and  efficiency,  though  Luke  and  Timothy  may  have 
been  more  personally  beloved.  It  is  a  remarkable  proof  of 
the  fragmentary  character  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  that 
his  name  does  not  once  occur  in  those  memoirs,  probably 
because  he  was  frequently  despatched  in  various  directions, 
and  was  not  much  with  St.  Paul  at  the  special  crises  narrated 
in  the  memoir  and  itineraries  of  St.  Luke.  There  is  no 
evidence  whatever  to  identify  him  with  the  Titus  or  Titius 
Justus  of  Acts  xviii.  7  (even  if  that  reading  were  more  than 

^  It  seems  idle  to  suppose  that  St.  Paul  could  have  founded  any  Churches 
during  the  days  of  storm  which  he  passed  as  a  prisoner  on  board  the  Alexan- 
drian vessel  at  Lasaoa  and  Fair  Havens. 

-  Kom.  XV.  19  ;  Tit.  iii.  12. 


T'ttm.  375 

dubious).^  All  that  we  know  of  him  is  that  he  was  a  Gentile 
convert  who  accomjDanied  St.  Paul  on  that  memorable  visit 
to  Jerusalem  from  Antioch  which  had  ended  in  the  emanci- 
pation of  the  Gentiles  from  the  thraldom  of  the  circum- 
cisionists.  The  presence  of  an  uncircumcised  Gentile  in 
Jerusalem,  and  in  close  personal  connexion  with  Jews,  ex- 
cited such  tumultuous  emotions  that  there  is  much  reason 
to  believe  that  in  the  acme  of  the  struggle,  and  pending  the 
final  decision,  Titus  made  a  purely  voluntary  sacrifice,  and 
accepted  circumcision  in  order  to  allay  the  immediate  excite- 
ment. By  such  a  sacrifice,  which  afterwards  gave  room  for 
bitter  taunts  against  Paul,  as  though  he  too  had  once  been  a 
preacher  of  circumcision,  Titus  at  least  qualified  himself  for 
work  in  Churches  so  largely  composed  of  Jewish  elements. 
Even  bigoted  Judaists  would  be  favourably  inclined  to  one 
who  was  thus  not  only  a  proselyte  of  the  gate,"  but  "  a 
proselyte  of  righteousness."  ^  All  that  Ave  further  know 
about  him  is  drawn  from  allusions  in  the  Epistles.  Since 
Titus  was  made  of  sterner  stuff  than  Timothy,  St,  Paul  had 
on  one  occasion  countermanded  a  mission  of  the  latter  to 
Corinth,  and  had  sent  Titus  in  his  place.  Indeed,  on  three 
separate  occasions  Titus  had  been  sent  to  introduce  order 
and  submission  into  that  turbulent  and  distracted  Church.^ 
Towards  the  close  of  St.  Paul's  life  he  was  despatched  to 
Dalmatia.*  After  this  he  disappears  from  history,  though 
we  have  the  usual  vaporous  ecclesiastical  legends  that  he 
returned  to  Crete,  and  there  died  at  an  advanced  age  as 
a  "Bishop"  or  "Archbishop" — terms  which,  as  Dean 
Alford  says,  are,  as  applied  to  that  period,  mere  ''  traps  for 
misconception  " — of  tlie  Church  of   Gortyna  in  that  island. 

^  There  is  reason  to  think  that  he  had  been  converted  by  St.  Paul,  who  calls 
him  "his  genuine  child  in  the  faith"  (Tit.  i.  4).  There  is  an  apocryphal 
biography  of  Titus  in  Fabricius,  Cod.  Apocr.  ii. 

"  As  this  is  not  the  usTial  opinion,  and  as  it  cannot  here  be  argued  out,  the 
author  must  refer  to  the  full  discussion  of  the  question  in  liis  Life  of  St.  Paul, 
i.  407-420. 

•^  2  Cor.  vii.  viii, 

*  2  Tim.  iv.  10. 


37G  The  Epistles. 

It  is  a  probable  conjecture  that  he  may  have  been  converted 
during  the  lirst  journey  of  St.  Paul.^ 

The  outline  of  the  Epistle  to  Titus  is  as  follows : — 
After  a  singularly  condensed  greeting,  rich  with  such 
characteristic  Christian  terms  as  "  faith,"  "  full  knowledge," 
"  hope  of  eternal  life,"  "  manifestation,"  "  salvation,"  "  grace, 
mercy,  peace  "  (i.  1 — 4),  the  Apostle  tells  him  what  sort  of 
elders  he  ought  to  appoint  (5 — 9),  with  special  reference  to 
the  bad  reputation  of  the  Cretans  and  the  prevalence  of  a 
Judaic  form  of  gnosticism,^  which  substitutes  myths  and 
ceremonies  for  holiness  towards  God  (10 — ii.  1).  He  then 
gives  directions  for  the  conduct  of  aged  men  (ii.  2),  of  aged 
women  (3 — 5),  of  young  men,  to  whom  Titus  is  to  set  an 
example  (6 — 8),  and  of  slaves  (9,  10).  These  directions  are 
based  on  a  beautiful  summary  of  the  principles  of  Christian 
conduct  (11 — 15).  He  then  enforces  the  lessons  of  gentleness 
and  submission  (iii.  1,  2)  as  a  direct  result  of  our  Christian 
faith  and  calling  (3 — 7),  and  urges  Titus  to  devote  himself 
to  these  practical  duties,  while  avoiding  idle  speculations 
(8 — 11).  After  a  few  personal  messages  and  salutations,  he 
ends  with  a  brief  blessing  (12 — 15). 

No  such  summary  can  give  any  adequate  picture  of  this 
admirably  practical  and  dignified  letter.  To  those  who  have 
ventured  to  describe  it  as  meagre,  colourless,  and  monotonous, 
I  oppose  the  consensus  of  the  Christian  world,  which  has 
recognised  in  it  a  priceless  and  unrivalled  manual  of  pastoral 
advice.  Luther  was  accustomed  to  declare  himself  with 
extreme  freedom  as  to  the  merits  of  various  books  of  the 
New  Testament.  He  never  hesitated  to  express  his  depre- 
ciation of  any  Epistle  which  did  not  come  up  to  his  loftiest 
and  most  sj^iritual  ideal.     And  yet  of  the  Epistle  to  Titus  he 

1  See  Gal.  ii.  1,  2  ;  2  Cor.  vii.,  viii.  6,  16,  17,  23. 

■''  That  it  was  Judaic  appears  from  i.  14  {(x))  irpotTiX^iv),  'lovZaiKois  /xidois,  and 
iii.  9,  iJt-dxo-s  vo/xiKas.  Judaic  Christianity  did  not  at  once  lose  all  the  elements 
of  Judaism,  and  the  Judaism  of  that  day,  no  less  tlian  of  the  days  of  the 
Talmud,  abounded  in  discussions  ((^jjTTjo-eis)  both  foolish  (ixoopai),  empty  in  their 
own  nature  (wei-ai),  and  void  of  all  results  {naraiol),  as  well  as  in  discords 
(ipfis,  fudxat)  «ind  "genealogies." 


Peculiarities.  377 

said,  "  This  is  a  short  Epistle,  but  yet  such  a  quintessence  of 
Christian  doctrine,  and  composed  in  such  a  masterly  manner, 
that  it  contains  all  that  is  needful  for  Christian  knowledge 
and  life." 

The  following  are  some  of  its  characteristics : — 

1.  It  is  completely  dominated  by  a  few  leading  conceptions, 
as  is  shown  by  the  constant  repetition  of  the  same  words  and 
phrases  in  the  short  compass  of  three  chapters. 

a.  One  of  these  words  is  "  Saviour." 

Thus  we  have — 

i.  3.  "  In  the  proclamation  wherewith  I  was  intrusted, 
according  to  the  commandment  of  God  our  Saviour." 

i.  4.  "  Grace  and  peace  from  God  the  Father  and  Christ 
Jesus  our  Saviour." 

ii.  10.  "  That  they  may  adorn  in  all  things  the  doctrine  of 
God  our  Saviour." 

ii.  11.  "  The  grace  of  God  was  manifested,  bringing  salva- 
tion to  all  men." 

ii.  13.  "  Looking  for  ....  the  appearing  of  the  glory  of 
the  great  God  and  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ." 

iii.  4.  .  "  But  when  the  kindness  of  God  our  Saviour  .  .  , 
was  manifested  ....  according  to  his  mercy  he  saved  us." 

iii.  6.  "  The  Holy  Ghost  ....  which  he  poured  upon  us 
richly  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour." 

Thus,  in  three  chapters,  we  have  the  epithet  "  Saviour " 
given  no  less  than  seven  times — four  times  to  God  the  Father, 
and  three  times  to  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  To  whom  the 
epithet  applies  in  ii.  13  has  always  been  uncertain.  The 
words  may  either  be  rendered  as  in  the  Authorised  Version 
and  the  margin  of  the  Revised  Version,  "  the  great  God  and 
our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,"  or  as  in  the  Revised  Version, 
"  our  great  God  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ."  ^  It  is  taken  in 
this  latter  sense  by  most  of  the  Greek  Fathers ;  but  the 
majority  of  versions  ancient  and  modern,  and  most  modern 
critics,  understand  it  in  the  former,  and  this  rendering  ("  the 
*  See  Dr.  Kennedy,  Ely  Lectures,  p.  83. 


378  The  Ejnstks. 

great  GoJ  and  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ ")  certainly  seems 
in  accordance  with  the  analogy  of  other  passages.^ 

y8.  Another  dominant  conception  is  soundness  in  doctrine. 

i,  9.  "  Holding  to  the  faithful  word  which  is  according  to 
the  teaching  (hiZaxh^)  that  he  may  be  able  ....  to  exhort 
in  the  sound  doctrine  (eV  rfj  SiSacrKaXla  Trj  uycaivovarj)." 

i.  13.  "Rebuke  them  sharj^ly  that  they  maybe  sound  in 
the  faith." 

ii.  1.  "  Speak  thou  the  things  which  befit  the  sound 
doctrine." 

ii.  2.  "  Sound  in  the  faith." 

ii.  7.  "  Uncorruptness  in  this  doctrine." 

ii.  8.  "  Sound  speech." 

ii.  10.  "The  doctrine  of  God." 

Thus  we  have  "  teaching  "  or  "  doctrine  "  spoken  of  seven 
times,  and  six  of  these  times  connected  with  the  ideas  of 
"  healthiness "  and  "  soundness."  It  is  further  noticeable 
that  (as  we  have  seen)  in  the  Pastoral  Ej^istles  "the  faith  " 
has  acquired  a  sense  which  can  hardly  be  paralleled  in  St. 
Paul's  earlier  writings,  namely,  the  general  body  of  Christian 
truths.^  This  is,  however,  exactly  what  we  should  expect  to 
find  in  the  gradual  progress  of  the  Christian  Church. 

7.  As  "  soundness  " — a  new  metaphor  with  St.  Paul,  and 
one  which  he  may  have  caught  up  from  his  constant  later 
intercourse  with  Luke — indicates  the  standard  of  doctrine,  so 
"  soher-mindedncss"  is  the  rule  of  practice.^ 

i.  8.  A  presbyter  is  to  be  "  sober-minded." 

ii.  5.  Aged  women  are  to  be  "sober-minded,"  and  "to 
sophronise  "  the  young  women. 

ii.  G.  Young  men  also  are  to  be  sober-minded. 

^  1  Tim.  i.  1,  "the  conimamlment  of  God  our  Saviour,  .ind  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  "  ;  v.  21,  "Refore  God,  and  our  Lord  Jesus  Chi-ist."  (Comxi.  vi.  13  ; 
2  Pet.  1.  1  ;  2  Thcss.  i.  12  ;  Jude  4,  &c.) 

2  2  Tit.  i.  13  ;  ii.  2. 

^  The  word  aai<ppoavvri  (which  in  one  form  or  another  occurs  ten  times  in  these 
Ei)istles)  is  a  very  beautiful  one.  It  is  derived  from  aw^eiv  and  <ppi)v  and 
rei)resents  the  many-sided  excellence  of  practical  conduct  and  character  which 
is  represented  by  the  Latin  frurii.  Elsewhere  in  St.  Paul  it  is  only  found  in 
Horn.  xii.  3  ;  2  Cor.  v.  13  ;  and  (in  a  speech)  Acts  x.wi.  25. 


PeciiUa7'Uies.  379 

ii.  12.  The  grace  of  God  trains  us  to  live  sober-mindedly. 

The  combination  of  soundness  in  doctrine  and  soberness  in 
practice  constitute  the  "  godliness  "  (evae^eta)  which  is  also  a 
prominent  conception  in  the  Pastoral  Epistles.^ 

8.  In  close  accordance  with  the  object  of  this  Epistle, 
which  is  to  teach  the  application  of  Christian  doctrine  to 
daily  life,  an  unusual  prominence  is  given  to  "  good  works!' 

i.  16.  "Disobedient,  and  to  every  good  work  reprobate." 

ii.  3,  "  Teachers  of  good  things  "  (KaXo8t8acrKd\.ov<i). 

ii.  14.  "  Zealous  of  good  works." 

iii.  1.  "Eemind  them  ....  to  be  ready  to  every  good 
work." 

iii.  8.  "  Tliat  they  ....  may  be  careful  to  maintain  good 
works." 

iii.  14.  "Let  our  people  also  learn  to  maintain  good  works" 
(^/caXcov  €p<yci)v  Trpotcrraadac).^ 

This  prominence  of  "  fair  works,"  thus  urged  many  tmies 
mdirectly,  and  six  times  verbally  in  three  chapters — in  a 
phrase  not  found  except  in  the  Pastoral  Epistles — has  been 
sometimes  represented  as  un-Pauline.  How  little  this  is  the 
case  may  be  seen  at  once  from — 

iii.  5.  "  Not  by  works  (done)  in  righteousness,  which  we 
did  ourselves,  but  according  to  His  mercy  He  saved  us." 

If  any  proof  were  needed  that  the  insistence  upon  good 
works  as  the  natural  and  necessary  fruit  of  true  faith  is 
essentially  Pauline,  it  is  found  in  the  fact  that  rules  of  moral 
conduct  occupy  so  large  a  part  of  all  his  Epistles,  even  those 
to  Rome  and  the  Galatians,  and  that  in  this  Epistle  of  good 
works  he  lays  it  down  so  clearly  that  we  are  "justified  by 
grace "  (iii.  7).  But  St.  Paul,  it  must  be  remembered,  is 
neither  writing  this  letter  to  a  Church  nor  to  a  novice.  It 
is  a  familiar  private  letter,  not  a  formal  theological  treatise. 
It  was  needless  for  him  to  lay  the  foundations  which  had 

^  Tit.  i.  1  ;  ii.  12  ;  1  Tim.  passim.  Ten  times  in  these  Ejiistles,  but  not 
elsewhere  in  St.  Paul. 

^  The  epithet  Ka\&s  occurs  seventeen  times  in  1  Tim.  and  only  sixteen  times 
in  all  the  previous  Epistles. 


880  The  Epistles. 

been  already  so  surely  laid  in  the  mind  of  Titus  during  many 
a  year  of  intimate  association. 

e.  Owing  to  the  self-asserting  independence  of  the  Judaists 
against  whom  he  is  warning  Titus,  he  lays  special  stress  on 
the  virtue  of  submission. 

i.  6.  The  children  of  a  presbyter  are  not  to  be  disorderly 
{avVTroraicra). 

i.  7.  A  presbyter  is  not  to  be  self-willed  {av6dhrj<;). 

ii.  5.  Women  are  to  be  subject  (vTroraaaofxiva'^)  to  their 
own  husbands. 

ii.  9.  Slaves  are  to  submit  {viroTuaaeaOai)  to  their  own 
masters. 

iii.  1,  The  Cretans  are  to  be  submissive  to  constituted 
authorities. 

2.  But  among  these  dominant  and  reiterated  conceptions 
it  is  interesting  to  come  upon  passages  in  which  St.  Paul, 
with  the  firmness  of  absolute  conviction,  and  the  fulness  of 
long  familiarity,  compresses  into  a  few  lines  a  majestic 
summary  of  his  Christian  faith. 

Two  such  summaries — worthy  of  the  Apostle  in  the  zenith 
of  his  spiritual  power — occur  in  this  Epistle,  and  they  are  not, 
so  to  speak,  dragged  in,  but  arise  from  the  general  train  of 
thought  with  a  spontaneity  which  is  inimitably  Pauline.  One 
of  these  is  in  ii.  11-14  : — 

"  For  the  grace  of  God  hath  appeared,  bringing  salvation 
to  all  men :  training  us  that  denying  impiety  and  worldly 
lusts,  we  should  live  soberly,  and  righteously,  and  piously  in 
this  present  age  ;  looking  for  the  blessed  hope  and  appearing 
of  the  glory  of  the  great  God  and  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ, 
who  gave  Himself  for  us  that  He  may  ransom  us  from  all 
lawlessness,  and  may  purify  for  Himself  a  people  for  His 
own  possession,  zealous  of  good  works." 

Another  of  these  swift  summaries  of  Pauline  doctrine, 
unparalleled  for  beauty  and  perfectness,  yet  free  from  all 
polemical  elements,  is  iii.  4-7  : — 

"  But  when  the  kindness  of  God  our  Saviour,  and  His  love 


Peculiarities.  381 

toward  man  appeared,  not  by  works  of  righteousness  •which 
we  did,  but  according  to  His  mercy  He  saved  us,  through  the 
laver  of  regeneration  and  renewal  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  wdiich 
He  poured  upon  us  richly  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour, 
that,  being  justified  by  His  grace,  we  may  become  heirs, 
according  to  hope,  of  eternal  life.     Faithful  is  the  saying." 

Those  who  deny  the  genuineness  of  the  Pastoral  Epistles 
may  well  be  asked  which  of  the  Fathers  of  the  second  century 
could  have  written  two  such  passages  as  these  ?  Are  they 
equalled,  or  even  approached,  in  grandeur  and  completeness 
by  anything  which  could  be  culled  from  the  writings  of 
Clemens  Romanus,  or  Hermas,  or  Justin  Martyr,  or  Ignatius, 
or  Polycarp,  or  Irenaeus — nay,  even  of  Tertullian,  or  Basil,  or 
Ghrysostom,  or  Gregory  of  Nyssa,  or  Gregory  of  Nazianzus  ? 
If  the  mind  of  Sophocles  was  recognised  in  a  single  chorus, 
and  the  pencil  of  Apelles  in  a  single  thin  line,  and  the  eye 
of  Giotto  in  the  sweep  of  one  flawless  circle — are  passages 
like  these  msufficient  to  prove  the  power  and  authenticate 
the  workmanship  of  St.  Paul  ?  ^ 

3.  Among  passages  which  may  be  specially  noted  are — 
a.  The  very  severe  remark  about  the  Cretans — 
"The  Cretans  are  always  liars,  evil  wild  beasts,  lazy  gluttons," 
which  is  quoted  (i.  1 2)  from  the  poem  "  On  Oracles "  by 
the  Cretan  poet  Epimenides,  whom  St.  Paul  calls  "  a  prophet 
of  their  own."  St,  Paul  adds  that  the  witness  is  true.  Of 
course  his  words  are  not  meant  to  be  taken  au  pied  de  la 
Icttre,  as  though  the  Cretans  were  indiscriminately  wicked. 
No  more  is  meant  than  that  Titus  has  to  deal  with  a  popula- 
tion of  general  bad  repute.  The  ancients  used  to  say  that  there 
were  "  three  worst  K's,"  namely  Kretaus,  Kappadocians,  and 
Kilicians.2  "  To  Kretize  "  meant  "  to  lie  ; "  and  the  ancients 
accused  these  islanders  of  drunkenness ;  of  general  sensuality ; 

^  Among  many  minor  touches  of  genuineness  we  may  point  to  the  obsnnre 
names  Artemas  and  Zenas  ;  the  uncertainty  as  to  whether  he  shall  send 
Artemas  or  Tychicus  ;  and  the  title  "  the  lawj^er,"  which  Titus  would  under- 
stand, hut  wliich  may  mean  either  Eoman  jurist  or  Jewish  scribe. 

-   Kp^rey,  Ko7r7ro5oK€J,  KiAi/ces,  rpla  Kairira  KUKiffra. 


382  The  Einstles. 

and  of  greed,  which  makes  Plutarch  say  of  them  "that 
they  stuck  to  money  like  bees  to  their  combs."  "The 
Cretans,"  wrote  Leonid  es,  "  are  always  brigands,  and  piratical, 
and  unjust.     Who  ever  knew  justice  among  Cretans  ?  "  ^ 

The  quotation  is  often  adduced  as  a  proof  of  St.  Paul's  clas- 
sic culture.  It  docs  not  in  the  least  prove  this.  The  line  was 
quoted  by  Callimachus  in  his  Hymn  to  ZeiLS,  and  St.  Paul 
seems  to  have  seen  the  poems  of  Callimachus,  perhaps  in 
the  same  book  as  those  of  his  countryman  Aratus.  But, 
indej)endently  of  this,  the  verse  had  become  proverbial.  It 
was  as  universally  current  as  '■'■  'perficU  AlUon,"  or  "  canny 
Scotch."  or  "drunken  Swabian."  St.  Paul  had  probably 
learnt  a  little  of  Greek  rhetoric  and  logic  in  the  schools  of 
Tarsus,  and  if  so  he  must  have  often  heard  the  syllogistic 
puzzle  founded  on  this  line,  and  known  as  "the  liar."  It  was 
this:  "Epimenides  said  that  the  Cretans  were  liars;  but 
Epimenides  was  a  Cretan ;  therefore  Epimenides  was  a  liar ; 
therefore  the  Cretans  were  not  liars." 

/8.  Another  curious  passage  is  iii.  13,  14. 

"Set  forward  Zenas  the  lawyer  and  Apollos  on  their 
journey  diligently,  that- nothing  be  wanting  to  them  ;  and  let 
our  jDcople  also  learn  to  maintain  good  Avorks  "  (or,  possibly, 
"  to  profess  honest  occuj)ations  ")  "  for  necessary  uses  "  (or 
"  wants ").  What  is  meant  by  "  oxur  people  also  "  {jcal  ol 
y/xerepoi)!  It  cannot  possibly  mean  "other  Cretan  Christians 
as  well  as  you  and  me."  Such  a  meaning  would  be  incon- 
ceivably vapid,  and  would  not  have  been  so  expressed. 
Does  it  then  mean  that  Zenas  and  Apollos  belonged  to  some 
assembly  or  gathering  of  Christians  other  than  those  over 
which  Titus  was  to  preside  ?  It  is  a  question  of  great 
interest,  for  the  answering  of  which  we  possess  no  data.  But 
its  very  obscurity — which  could  not  have  been  obscure  to 
the  recipient  of  the  letter — is  one  of  the  many  marks  of  an 
authentic  document. 

1  Liv.  xliv.  45  ;  Pint.  Paul.  JEmil.  23  ;  Tolyb.  vi.  46.  See  Clem.  Alex. 
Strom,  i.  14  ;  Jer.  ad  loe. 


Ucrcsy.  383 

7.  Of  the  particular  errorists  whom  St.  Paul  had  in  view 
I  need  add  nothing  to  what  has  been  already  said,  but  we 
may  touch  for  a  moment  on  iii.  10  :  "A  man  that  is  heretical 
{aipervKov)  after  the  first  and  second  admonition  refuse."  It 
has  been  said  by  some  that  in  the  Pastoral  Epistles  haeresis 
acquires  its  later  sense  of  "  heresy,"  and  loses  its  original  and 
Pauline  sense  of  "  faction."  ^  Doubtless  "  heresy "  and 
"  factiousness  "  might  often  be  combined,  but  there  is  nothing 
to  show  that  in  this  passage  the  "heretic"  is  one  in  the 
modern  sense.  And  even  if  alpeTiKov  here  means  the  same 
as  our  "heretical,"  there  had  been  plenty  of  time  to  allow  for 
the  growth  of  this  new  shade  of  meaning. 

1  In  St.  Paul  the  word  alpecris  only  occurs  in  1  Cor.  xi.  19  ;  Gal.  v.  20. 
Elsewhere  only  in  the  Acts  six  times — viz.  once  of  the  Sadducees,  once  of  the 
Pharisees,  and  four  times  as  applied  by  the  Jews  to  Christians. 


THE   SECOND  EPISTLE  TO  TIMOTHY. 

WRITTEN  SHORTLY  BEFORE    ST.  TAUL's  MARTYRDOM  AT    ROME, 
A.D.  67. 

"Testamcntum  Pauli  et  cyciiea  cantio  est  liaec  epistola," — Bengel, 

"Non  tanquam  atramento  scripta,  sed  ipsius  Pauli  sanguine  accipere  con- 
Tcnit.  Proinde  haec  Epistola  quasi  solennis  quaedam  est  subscriptio  Pauliuae 
docti'inae  caque  ex  re  praesenti." — Calvin. 


"  The  cloke  that  I  left  at  Troas  with  Carpus,  when  thou  comest,  bring  with 
thee,  and  the  books,  but  especially  the  parchments." — 2  Tim.  iv.  13. 

Many  have  regarded  this  verse  as  one  of  the  least  im- 
portant in  the  whole  Bible.  Many  have  been  perplexed  by 
its  appearing  there  at  all.  They  consider  it  unworthy  of 
what  they  imagine  should  be  the  dignity  of  inspiration. 
Many,  again,  have  used  its  supposed  triviality  to  point  a 
sneer  at  the  sacred  book.  Others,  like  Calvin,  have  sus- 
pected that  it  contained  some  hidden  mystery.  AU  these 
views  have  their  root  in  one  and  the  same  error  ; — the  error 
which  consists  in  men  bringing  to  the  Bible  their  own  self- 
made  dogmas  and  artificial  theologies,  instead  of  learning, 
from  its  own  simple  and  noble  truthfulness,  what  the  Bible 
is.  It  must  be  ever  so  while  partisans  make  use  of  it,  not 
as  the  rock  on  which  to  build  their  own  faith,  but  as  a  heap 
of  broken  missiles  to  hurl  at  tlie  heads  of  others.  Incredible 
is  the  misery  and  ruin  which  has  been  caused  by  misin- 
terpretation of  Scripture  founded  on  the  superstition  tliat 
every   passing   word   which   it    contains    must    liave    been 


The  Cloke  and  the  Boolis.  385 

miraculously  infallible  and  supernaturally  inspired,  and 
must  tliorefore  involve  enigmatic  and  mystic  senses.  Infi- 
delity is  the  natural  outcome  of  false  and  exaggerated  dogma. 
Widespread  scepticism  is  the  certain  Nemesis  of  arbitrary 
superstition. 

But  if  the  Bible  be  what  it  seems  to  be,  what  it  professes 
to  be ;  if  we  do  not  thrust  it  into  a  position  which  it  never 
claims;  if  it  be,  like  the  Saviour  of  whom  it  tells,  both 
human  and  divine ;  if  its  inspiration  be  an  illuminating 
wisdom,  a  dynamic  energy,  not  a  mechanical  penmanship, 
or  a  miraculous  dictation ;  if  it  be  best  honoured  by  manly 
faithfulness,  not  by  grovelling  fetishism ;  if  we  are  taught 
by  its  own  direct  words,  and  by  the  manner  in  which  our 
Lord  always  treated  it,  to  receive  it  as  the  straightforward 
utterance  of  men  whose  souls  had  been  taught  of  God,  not 
as  a  kabalistic  enigma  to  be  deciphered  by  methods  which 
bear  no  relation  to  ordinary  criticism — then  this  verse  is  just 
what  it  professes  to  be — a  message  of  St.  Paul,  in  a  letter  to 
his  friend  Timotheus,  to  bring  him  a  cloke,  and  some  books, 
from  Troas,  It  is  that,  and  nothing  more.  St.  Paul  would 
never  have  dreamt  that  any  divine  instruction  lay  in  it ;  he 
would  probably  have  been  amazed  beyond  expression  could  ^ 
he  have  been  told  that  it  would  be  made  the  theme  of  a 
discourse  to  a  Christian  congregation  in  the  then  wild,  far-off 
island  of  Britain,  1800  years  after  he  was  dead.  And  yet 
there  is  instruction,  even  divine  instruction,  in  it,  if  we  treat 
it  as  exactly  what  it  is — no  cryjitograph,  no  oracular  utter- 
ance— but  just  a  simple  message  of  one  Christian  brother  to 
another,  which  acquires  its  pathos  and  its  wholesomeness 
neither  from  impossible  supernaturalism,  nor  Gnostic  alle- 
gorising, but  from  the  circumstances,  and  from  the  man. 

1.  The  man  Ave  know.  We  know  him  doubly,  from  the 
picture  of  a  friend  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  and  from  his 
own  thirteen  letters.  It  is  that  "  man  of  the  third  heaven," 
— the  worn,  bent,  scourged,  exiled,  shattered  missionary,  who, 
persecuted  but  not  forsaken,  cast  down  but  not  destroyed, 

c  c 


38G  The  Epistles. 

flung  wide  open  to  the  Gentiles  the  gates  of  the  Clnistian 
Church,  and  sliowed  to  all  men  that  in  Christ  Jesus  circum- 
cision is  nothing  and  uncircumcision  is  nothing,  but  a  new 
creature. 

2.  And  we  know  the  circumstances.  When  the  curtain 
falls  ujDuii  him  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  we  see  him  at 
Rome  during  his  first  imprisonment,  in  custody  indeed,  but 
in  immediate  expectation  of  his  acquittal  and  deliverance. 
That  acquittal  came,  and  it  came  not  one  hour  too  soon. 
A  few  months  after  his  release  there  burst  forth  at  Rome 
that  frightful  conflagration,  which  raged  for  six  days,  and 
laid  a  vast  region  of  the  city  in  ashes.  It  was  darkly 
rumoured  that  the  guilt  of  that  conflagration  rested  on  the 
head  of  the  Emperor  himself — of  Nero,  the  imperial  monster, 
who  at  that  time  disgraced,  not  only  the  name  of  Roman, 
but  the  name  of  man.  Just  as  the  great  fire  of  London  was 
falsely  attributed  to  the  Papists,  even  in  the  inscription  on 
the  Monument — 

"  AVliere  London's  column,  pointing  to  the  skios. 
Like  some  tall  bully,  lifts  its  head,  and  lies—" 

SO,  in  order  to  avert  the  suspicion  from  himself,  Nero  laid 
the  charge  upon  the  innocent  Christians.  Multitudes  of 
every  age,  of  every  sex,  were  arrested.  They  were  slain 
with  the  sword ;  they  Avere  exposed  in  the  amphitheatre ; 
Lhey  were  covered  with  the  skins  of  wild  beasts  to  be  torn 
to  pieces  by  dogs ;  they  were  wrapped  in  sheets  of  pitch, 
and  tied  to  stakes,  and  set  on  fire.  Nero  threw  open  his 
own  gardens  for  the  revolting  spectacle,  and  when  the  dusk 
of  evening  fell,  only  too  literally 

"  Commanding  fires  of  deatli  to  lij^ht 
The  darkness  of  their  scenery," 

he  drove  about  among  the  people  in  his  chariot,  by  the  flare 
of  these  hideous  human  torches,  of  which  each  was  a  mart3a- 
in  his  shirt  of  flame.  Such  was  the  diabolical  horror  of 
heathenism  in  its  dregs ;  and  he  who,  more  than  any  man. 


Further  Travels.  387 

heljDed  to  free  the  world  from  such  horrors — he  who  dispelled,  2  timothy. 
by  the  radiance  of  the  Gospel,  these  demon  shadows  of  a 
dying  paganism — had  he,  the  great  Apostle,  at  that  time 
been  still  in  prison,  and  in  Rome,  it  is  thus  that  in  all 
probability  he,  as  a  leader  of  the  Christians,  would  have  been 
among  the  first  to  fall. 

3.  God  had  ordered  otherwise  for  him.  We  are  enabled 
by  the  Pastoral  Ej^istles  to  catch  at  least  a  misty  glimpse  of 
his  final  movements  and  read  his  state  of  mind  as  death 
drew  very  near.  Set  free  in  time,  wherever  else  he  had 
gone,  we  may  be  sure  that  he  had  visited  Philemon  at 
Colossae,  and  seen  the  dear  slave  Onesimus,  now  a  true 
Christian,  and  therefore  now  doubtless  beloved  and  free. 
He  had  wintered  at  Nicopolis.  He  had  written  his  first 
letter  to  Timothy  as  his  delegate  at  Ephesus,  and  to  Titus 
as  his  delegate  in  Crete ;  and  then,  after  revisiting  his  kind 
and  noble  Macedonian  churches,  he  seems  to  have  been 
arrested  a  second  time,  at  Troas.  Since  the  Fire  of  Rome, 
Christianity  had  been  no  longer  a  religio  licita,  or  tolerated 
religion.  Like  all  brave  and  good  men,  Paul  had  many  an 
enemy — all  the  mean,  all  the  base,  were  his  enemies;  all 
the  conventional  Judaisers,  all  the  slander-mongering  world- 
lings ;  Jews,  whose  opinions  he  offended ;  Gentiles,  whose 
gains  he  checked.  Such  a  one  as  Alexander  the  copper- 
smith, or  any  other  angry  and  designing  Jew,  could  easily 
have  procured  his  arrest,  and  when  suddenly  seized  by  the 
lictors  at  Troas  he  could  have  had  no  time  to  take  away  his 
few  possessions.  He  was  conducted  to  Ejjhesus,  and  as  he 
lay  there  in  prison  he  experienced  the  generous  kindness  of 
Onesiphorus.^  After  a  preliminary  trial  there  he  may  per- 
haps have  appealed  once  more  to  Caesar  and  been  once  more 
despatched  to  Rome.  Though  no  St.  Luke  has  recorded  it 
for  us,  we  can  trace  step  by  step  the  journey  of  the  wearied 
prisoner.     At  Ephesus  he  bade  farewell  to  Timutheus  with 

1  2  Tiin.  i.  18,  oVa  iv  ''E^ecrcp  Siit<6u')J(T€.  Onesipliorus  nia}^  luivi'  been,  as 
Wieseler  suggests,  a  deacon  (StaKovew). 

c  c  2 


388  The  Epistles. 

many  a  streaming  tcar.^  At  Miletus,  Tropliimus  fell  sick. 
At  Corinth,  Erastus  stayed  behind.  But  the  weak  health  of 
the  Apostle  needed  attendance,  and  one  or  two,  with  Luko 
the  beloved  physician,  were  with  him  still.  As  they  neared 
Rome  along  the  Appian  Way,  no  brethren,  young  and  old, 
came  this  time  in  deputation  as  far  as  Appii  Forum  to  meet 
him.  Over  the  blackened  ruins  of  the  city,  amid  the  squalid 
misery  of  its  inhabitants,  perhaps  with  many  a  fierce  scowl 
turned  on  the  "  malefactor  "  (ii.  9),  he  passed  to  his  gloomy 
dungeon.  There,  as  the  gate  clanged  upon  him,  he  sat  down, 
chained  night  and  day,  without  further  hope,  a  doomed  man. 
His  case  was  far  more  miserable  than  it  had  been  in  his  first 
imprisonment,  two  or  three  years  earlier.  He  was  no  longer 
permitted  to  reside  in  "  his  own  hired  room."  To  find  him 
was  difficult,  to  visit  him  dangerous.^  He  was  in  the  custody 
not  as  before  of  an  honourable  soldier  like  Burrus,  but  of  the 
foul  Tigellinus,  whose  hands  were  still  dripping  with  Christian 
blood.  To  see  friends  was  perilous,  to  preach  Christ  was 
death.  One  by  one  they  of  Asia  deserted  a  prisoner  whom  it 
was  deemed  a  disgrace  to  own.  The  first  to  leave  liim  were 
Phygellus  and  Hermogenes.^  Titus  and  Crescens  were  called 
away  to  mission  work.  Demas  deliberately  deserted  him. 
Tychicus  was  sent,  perhaps  with  this  letter,  to  Ephesus.  Luke 
only  stayed.     The  warm-hearted  Ephesian  Onesiphorus  took 

^  2  Tim.  i.  4,  /xefivrifieyos  aov  tZv  SaKpvwv. 

2  The  difficulty  of  iindiiig  liim  is  shown  by  the  expression,  "he  sought  me 
very  diligently  {cnrovSaiiTepov  eCi'iTrja-f  ;ue)  and  found  nie  "  (2  Tiin.  i.  17).  He 
who  wished  to  visit  a  hated  jirisoner  had  to  face  the  insolence  of  the  soldiers 
(Juv.  Sat.  xvi.  8-12).  The  danger  is  obvious.  At  this  time  the  Cluistians 
— since  the  fire  of  I'ome — were  not  only  "everywhere  spoken  against,"  but 
savagely  persecuted.  In  fact  the  mere  profession  of  Christianity  became  an 
olfenee.  Yet  tlie  total  neglect  of  St.  Paul,  and  the  loneliness  in  which  he 
was  left  by  the  Koman  Christians  is  a  strange  circumstance.  "Were  they  at 
this  time  almost  exclusively  Judaists  who  had  but  little  sympathy  with  his 
views  ?  Or  had  they  been  almost  exterminated  by  the  martyrdom  of  that  "  ingcns 
muUiludo"  in  the  Neronian  persecution?  Or  had  they  not  as  yet  accjuired 
that  sympathy  with  martyrs,  confessors,  and  prisoners  which  was  so  remark- 
able in  later  days,  and  wliich  Lucian  mentions  with  admiration  in  his  account 
of  the  worthless  impostor  Pei'egrinus,  who  at  one  time  professed  to  be  a  Chris- 
tian ? — Lucian,  De  Morte  Pcrccjr.  13. 

^  "They  who  hurt  nre  most,"  said  Luther,  "  are  my  own  dear  children — my 
bretlireu— /?'((<c;t»^4  mei,  aurei  amicuU  mcL" 


The  Trial.  389 

the  trouble  to  find  the  aged  prisoner,  and  often  refreshed   his   2  timothy. 

soul  which  scorned  all  hardship,  but  yearned  to  its  inmost 

depths  for  human  sympathy.     But  now,  it  seems,  Onesiphorus 

Avas  dead/  and  when  the  Apostle  was  brought  for  trial  in  his 

first  appearance  before  Nero,  no  man  stood  with  him.     It  was 

an  awfully  perilous  matter  to  face   that    human  Antichrist. 

"  No  man — no  patron,  no  advocate,  no  dcprecator — took  his 

place  by  my  side  to  help  me ;  all  abandoned  me ;  God  forgive 

them  ! "     He  felt  that  it  was  God  alone  who  had  enabled  him 

to  face  the  gleaming  axes,  the  imltus  ivstantis  tyranni.     God 

had  saved  him  from  "  the  lion's  mouth."  ^     He  knew  that  it 

would  be  but  a  brief  respite.     During  that  brief  respite — 

which  would  have  been  technically  called  the  ampliatio  of  his 

trial — he  wrote  once  more  to  his  own  dear  son  in  the  Gospel, 

the  shrinking  but  faithful  Timothy.    There  was  no  one  whom 

he  loved  so  well.     Since  the  day  when  the  young  Lycaonian 

boy  had  come  to  share   his  travels  and  dangers,  Paul  had 

grappled  him  to  his  soul  with  hooks  of  steel ;  and  if  he  has 

one  earthly  wish  left  it  is  to  see  again  before  he  dies  that 

dear  friend  of  earlier  days.     He  writes  therefore  to  urge  him 

to  do   his  best  to   come — to  come  with  all  speed — to  come 

before  tlie  winter  storms  have  closed  the  Mediterranean,  or 

else,  as  he  intimates  not  obscurely,  he  will  find  him  dead. 

For  the  time  of  his  departure  was  at  hand.     In  reading  the 

Second  Epistle  to  Timothy  we  are  reading  the  last  words  of 

St.  Paul.     It  is  amid  those  last  words  that  he  asks  for  his 

cloke  and  books.     In  his  hasty  arrest  at  Troas  he  has  left 

them  behind  with  Carpus  to  take  care  of  them,  and  he  wants 

them  now. 

^  2  Tim.  i.  16,  iroWaKis  fie  ave\\/v^ev.     That  Onesiphorus  had  died  either  in        O 
IJnnie  or  on  his  return  to  his  family  in  Ephesus  is  a  natural  inference  from 
1  Tim   i.  16,  18,  iv.  19,  where  St.  Paul  prays  for,  and  salutes,  "  the  lunmchold 
of  Onesiphorus,"  but  not  himself. 

-  2  Tim.  iv.  17.  The  "lion  "  was  in  all  probability  Nero.  Ajoj'to  rhvNepwvi 
(prjcri  5ia  rh  OrjpiooSes,  Clirys.  When  the  jailer  announced  to  Agiippa  the  death 
of  Tiberius,  he  did  so  in  the  words,  "  The  lion  is  dead  "  (Jos.  Antt.  xviii.  6, 
§  10);  and  Esther  (Apocr.  Esth.  xiv.  3)  in  entering  before  Xerxes  goes  "before 
the  lion."  For  "the  mouth  of  the  lion"  see  Amos  iii.  12,  "Save  me  from 
th<3  lion's  moutli"  (Esther,  in  Mcgilkih,  f.  15,  2). 


390  The  EiJistles. 

4.  The  word  rendered  cloke — the  0c\oi^?)? — was  one  of 
those  large,  sleeveless,  travelling  garments  which  we  should 
call  an  "  over-all  "  or  "  dreadnought."^  Perhaps  St.  Paul  had 
woven  it  himself  of  that  cilicinm,  the  black  goats'-hair  of  his 
native  province,  which  it  was  his  trade  to  make  into  tents. 
Paul  was  a  poor  man.^  He,  like  his  Lord,  had  often  known 
what  it  was  to  work  night  and  day  for  his  livelihood,  and 
barely  to  earn  it  then ;  and  he  had  felt,  for  many  a  weary 
year,  the  pangs  of  hunger,  and  thirst,  and  cold,  and  nakedness. 
Doubtless  the  cloke  was  an  old  companion.  It  may  have 
been  wetted  many  a  time  with  the  water-torrents  of  Pam- 
phylia,^  and  whitened  with  the  dust  of  the  long  roads,*  and 
stained  with  the  brine  of  shipwreck,  when,  on  the  rocky  cliffs  of 
Malta,  Euraquilo  was  driving  the  Adrian  into  foam.^  He  may 
have  slept  in  its  warm  shelter  on  the  chill  Phrygian  upland.s, 
under  the  canopy  of  stars ;  and  it  may  have  covered  his 
trembling  limbs — bruised  with  the  brutal  rods  of  the  lictors 
— as  he  lay  that  night  in  the  dungeon  of  Philippi.  And  now 
that  the  old  man — who  is  (as  with  a  jiassing  touch  of  self- 
pity  he  calls  himself)  an  "  ambassador  in  a  chain  " — sits 
shivering  in  some  gloomy  cell  under  the  Palace,  or  it  may  be 
on  the   rocky  floor  of  the  Tullianum,  and  the   wintry  nights 

^  Tlie  notion  that  it  was  a  book  case  [y\u:<Ta6Konov)  is  given  up.  It  may  be 
a  transliteration  of  pnrwila  (Syriac  J"l  v3). 

-  That  St.  Paul  often  liad  to  struggle  with  poverty,  and  sometimes  even 
with  positive  want  and  hunger,  appears  from  many  passages  of  the  Epistles. 
Whether  he  had  any  private  means  is  an  interesting  question  which  we  cannot 
solve.  It  appears  from  his  ability  to  hire  a  room  of  his  own  at  Eome  (Acts 
xxviii.  30),  and  to  be  responsible  for  tlie  debt  of  Onesimus  (Fhilein.  10),  that 
some  small  resources  were  at  his  disposal.  The  expression,  "  I  was  mulcted  of 
nil  "  {iCvt^tderiv  TO,  irdvra),  in  Phil.  iii.  8,  might  imjdya  sviddeu  loss  of  what  he 
once  had  possessed.  His  other  means  of  livelihood  may  have  been  derived  in 
]iart  fiom  his  relatives  at  Tarsus  and  Jerusalem  (Acts  xxiii.  IC),  from  Iris  Mace- 
donian converts  (Phil.  iv.  15),  and  especially  from  his  own  exertions  at  the 
trade  of  tentmaking,  which,  in  Thessalonica  at  any  rate,  earned  sufficient  not 
only  for  his  own  maintenance  but  even  for  that  of  his  comrades  also  (2  Thess. 
8).  Obviously  the  trade  would  not  be  equally  flourishing  at  all  places,  and 
in  prison  St.  Paul  would  not  be  aide  to  work  at  all. 

•*  KtvSvvois  iroTaixcSiv,  2  Cor.  xi.  26. 

*  ItZoiTTopiats  TToWois,  2  Cor.  xi.  26. 

"  KLvZvvots  iu  eaAaa-a-n,  2  Cor.  xi.  26.  rpls  evavayncra,  id,  25.  ive/xos 
rv<pwt'iKhs  &  KaAovfievos  EvpaKvXuv,  Acts  xxvii.  1  i. 


The  Boohs  and  Parchments.  391 

are  coming  on — he  bethinks  him  of  the  old  clokc,  and  asks    2  timothy. 

Timothy  to  bring  it  him, — the  cloke  in  which  in  former  days 

*'  Yes  !  without  cheer  of  sister  or  of  d.aughter, 
Yes  !   without  stay  of  father  or  of  son, 
Lone  on  the  land,  and  homeless  on  the  water, 
Passed  he  in  patience,  till  the  work  was  done." 

"  The  cloke  that  I  left   at   Troas  with  Carpus,  bring  with 

thee." 

5.  "  And  the  books  ;  but  esjDecially  the  parchments."     The 

liblia,   the    papyrus-books — few,  we    may  be    sure,  but   old 

friends.     Books   in    those    days   were   life -long  possessions. 

Perhaps  he  had  bought  them  in  the  school  oif  Gamaliel  at 

Jerusalem ;    or   received    some    of    them   as    presents    from 

wealthier   converts.     Perhaps  among  them  may  have   been 

poems   of  Aratus,  a    Cilician  like    himself,  or  pamphlets  of 

Philo,  or  the  Wisdom  of  Solomon,^    The  papyrus-books,  "  but 

especially  the  parchments  " — the  works  inscribed  on  vellum. 

What  were  these  ?     Was  there  any  document  among  them 

which  might  have  been  useful  to  prove  his  rights  as  a  Roman 

citizen  ?  Were  they  any  precious  rolls  of  Isaiah,  or  the  Psalms, 

or  the  Lesser  Prophets,  which  father  or  mother  had  given  him 

as  a  life-long  treasure,  in  the  far-off  days,  when,  little  dreaming 

of  all  that  awaited  him,  he  played  a  happy  boy  in  the  dear 

old  Tarsian  home  ?     Dreary  and  long  are  the  days,  longer 

and  drearier  still  the  evenings,  in  that  Roman  dungeon  ;  and 

often  the  rude  legionary,  who  detests  to  be  chained  to  a  sick 

and  suffering  Jew,  is  coarse  and  cruel  to  him ;  a,nd  he  cannot 

always  be  engaged  in  "  the  sessions  of  sweet,  silent  thought," 

either  on  the  hopes  of  the  future,  or  the  remembrance  of  the 

past.     He  knows  Scripture  well,  but  it  will  be  a  deep  joy  to 

read  once  more  how  David  and  Isaiah,  in  all  their  troubles, 

learnt,  like  his  own   poor  self,    "  to  suffer,   and   be  strong." 

1  Tf  those  be  fiiiicies,  thc^y  are  at  least  fancies  founded  on  real  indications. 
St.  Paul  quotes  from  the  Cilician  jjoet  Aratus  in  Acts  xvii.  28.  It  is  certain 
from  many  passages  that  he  was  not  unfamiliar  with  the  conceptions  of  Pliilo. 
There  are  several  passages  in  his  Epistles  wliich  resemble  the  "W^wloni  of 
Solomon.  St.  Paul  was  so  completely  a  student  that  Festus  thought  his 
studies  were  driving  him  mad  (Acts  xxvi.  24,  ra.  izoWa  ere  ypdfxfiara  ets  /xaviau 
TrepiTpiTTei). 


392  The  E2nstles. 

And  therefore — "  The  chjke  that  I  left  at  Troas  with  Carpus, 
when  thou  comest,  bring  with  thee,  and  the  books,  but 
especially  the  parchments." 

And  who,  as  he  reads  this  last  message,  can  help  recalling 
the  touching  letter  written  from  his  prison  in  the  damp  cells 
of  Vilvoorde  by  our  own  noble  martyr,  William  Tyndale,  one 
of  the  greatest  of  our  translators  of  the  English  Bible  ?  "I 
entreat  your  Lordship,"  he  writes,  "and  that  by  the  Lord 
Jesus,  that  if  I  must  remain  here  for  the  winter,  you  would 
beg  the  Commissary  to  be  so  kind  as  to  send  me,  from  the 
things  of  mine  which  he  has,  a  warmer  cap.  ...  I  feel  the 
cold  painfully  in  my  head.  .  .  .  Also  a  warmer  cloke,  for  the 
one  I  have  is  very  thin.  Also  some  cloth  to  patch  my 
leggings.  My  overcoat  is  worn  out,  my  shirts  even  are  worn 
out.  He  has  a  woollen  shirt  of  mine,  if  he  will  send  it. 
But  most  of  all  I  intreat  and  implore  your  kindness  to  do 
your  best  with  the  Commissary  to  be  so  good  as  to  send  me 
my  Hebrew  Bible,  grammar,  and  vocabulary,  that  I  may 
spend  my  time  in  that  pursuit. — William  Tyndale."  The 
noble  martyr  was  not  thinking  of  St.  Paul,  but  history 
repeats  itself,  and  what  is  this  over  again  but  "  The  cloke  that 
I  left  at  Troas  with  Carpus  bring  with  thee,  and  the  books, 
but  especially  the  parchments  "  ? 

6.  A  simple  message,  then,  about  an  old  cloke  and  some 
books,  nothing  more,  but  is  it  not  pathetic  and  human  ? 
Would  we  willingly  part  with  it  ?  May  we  not  with  profit 
consider  what  it  can  teach  us  more  ? 

i.  Does  it  not  show  us,  first  of  all,  that  this  great  and  holy 
Ajoostle  was  a  man  like  ourselves,  a  tried  and  suffering  man 
with  human  wants,  and  human  sympathies,  ay,  and  with 
human  limitations  and  human  weaknesses,  and  though  with 
transcendently  severer  trials,  yet  with  no  greater  privileges 
than  we  enjoy  ?  The  hero-worship  which  would  elevate 
the  Apostles  into  demi-gods,  on  pedestals  of  supernatural 
superiority,  is  a  false  hero-worship,  which  Scripture  itself 
sets  at  naught,  and  by  whidi  those  who  profess  to  honour 


Closing  Days.  393 

Scripture,  most  flagrantly  contradict  it.  Take  Paul's  own  2  timothy. 
account  of  himself,  "  the  least  of  the  Apostles,  not  meet 
to  be  called  an  Apostle ; "  "  less  than  the  least  of  all 
saints  ;  "  "  the  chief  of  sinners  ; "  one  who  does  "  not  yet 
count  himself  to  have  apprehended ; "  engaged  still  in  an 
earnest  struggle  with  the  flesh ;  undelivered  even  yet  from 
"  the  body  of  this  death."^  Yes,  a  fellow-sinner,  a  fellow- 
sufferer  with  us ;  but,  like  us,  forgiven ;  like  us,  redeemed. 
Like  us  ; — and  yet,  with  no  higher  grace  to  help  him  than  we 
may  have,  how  unlike  us!  And  if  he  was  but  a  man  like 
ourselves,  and  yet  such  a  high  saint  of  God  unlike  ourselves, 
from  those  heights  of  Christian  holiness  to  which  he  had 
followed  the  footsteps  of  his  blessed  Lord — yea,  from  those 
heavenly  places  to  wliich  he  had  risen  in  spirit  with  the 
risen  Christ — does  he  not  call  to  us  with  more  clear 
encouragement,  "  Faint  not ;  I  too  was  weak,  I  too  was 
tempted ;  but  thou,  no  less  than  I,  canst  do  all  things 
through  Christ  that  strengtheneth  us." 

ii.  And  then  in  how  fine  a  light  of  manliness,  good  sense, 
contentment,  does  this  message  bathe  the  Apostle's  character ! 
The  sword,  he  well  knows,  is  hanging  over  his  head,  whose 
flash  shall  slay  him  ;  but  life  is  life,  and  till  the  Lord  calls 
him  there  is  no  reason  why  life  should  not  go  on,  not  only  in 
its  quiet  duties,  but  also  in  such  small  blessings  as  it  yet  may 
bring.  There  is  no  flaring  fanaticism,  no  exaggerated  self- 
denial  here.  He  has  been  telling  Timothy  to  study,  and  to 
take  due  care  of  his  health.  Incidentally  he  sets  him  the 
example  of  doing  both.  The  winter  nights  will  be  cold  and 
(lull.  There  is  no  sort  of  merit  in  making  them  colder  and 
duller.  That  is  why  he  writes  for  the  cloke  and  the  books. 
God,  for  our  good,  sends  us  trials  enough  to  bear ;  but  it  is 
only  for  our  good.  There  is  not  the  least  reason — it  is  not 
even    right — to   create    tortures   and    miseries   for   ourselves 


^  1  Cor.  XV.  9,  b  ikax^ffTos  rwv  a-KocrrAXouv,  n.r.\.  Oal.  i.  13,  ry 
fXaxia-TOTepcfi  iravTuiv  rSiv  ayiwv — Eph.  iii.  8  (St.  Paul  liere  in  his  humility  in- 
vents a  double  comparative,  "  less-tlian-kast "),  I'hiL  iii.  12-14,  Rom.  vii.  24. 


394  The  Epistles. 

which  He  has  not  scut  us.  "We  are  allowed  to  take,  wc  ought 
to  take,  every  harmless  and  innocent  gift  which  Ho  permits 
to  us,  and  to  thank  Him  for  it.  Let  us  never  think  that  our 
sorrows  as  such,  or  our  hardships  as  such,  are  pleasing  to 
God.  "  The  cloke  that  I  left  at  Troas  with  Carpus,  when 
thou  comcst,  bring  with  thee ;  and  the  books,  but  especially 
the  parchments." 

iii.  Then  look  at  the  matter  in  one  more  light.  What  is 
it  that  a  life  of  ceaseless  ungrudging  labour  has  left  to  Paul ! 
What  earthly  possessions^has  he  gained  as  the  sum-total  of 
services  to  the  world,  unparalleled  in  intensity,  unparalleled 
in  self-denial  ?  Perhaps  he  wants  to  leave  some  small 
memento  behind  him,  some  trifling  legacy  by  which  some 
true  heart  may  remember  him,  ere  the  rippled  sea  of  life 
Hows  smooth  once  more  over  his  nameless  grave.  Just  as  the 
hermit  St.  Anthony  left  to  the  great  bishop  St.  Athanasius 
his  sole  possession,  his  sheepskin  cloke,  so  Paul  w^ould  like  to 
leave  to  the  kind  and  faithful  Luke,  or  the  true  and  gentle 
Timothy,  the  cloke,  the  books,  the  parchments.  But  how 
small  a  result  of  earth's  labours,  if  earth  were  everything  ! 
Worth  far  less  than  a  dancer  gets  for  a  figure  in  a  theatre,  or" 
an  acrobat  for  a  fling  on  the  trapeze.  The  heavenly  work  and 
the  earthly  reward  are  not  in  the  same  material ;  it  is  not  for 
such  rewards  that  the  best  and  purest  work  of  the  world  is 
done. 

"Where  are  the  great,  whom  thou  couldst  wish  to  praise  thee  ? 
Where  are  the  pure,  whom  thou  couklst  choose  to  love  tliee  ? 
Where  are  the  brave,  to  stand  supreme  above  thee, 
Whose  higli  commands  would  cheer,  whose  chidings  raise  thee  ? 
Seek,  Seeker,  in  tliyself ;  submit  to  find 
In  tlie  stones  bivad  ;   and  life  in  tlu;  Idaiik  mind." 

Nay,  seek,  Seeker,  not  in  thyself  but  in  Christ,  in  whom  are 
hid  all  treasures  bodily. 

The  singer  who  has  a  fine  note  in  her  voice  may  blaze  in 
diamonds  ;  the  speculator  who  makes  a  lucky  venture  on  the 
Stock  E.xchange,  or  the  distiller  who  manufactures  some 
horrible  intoxicant,  may,  in  a  year  or  two,  have  his  carriages 


The  Gains  of  Earth.  395 

and  liis  palace,  his  title  and  liis  estate.  But  the  thinker  who 
has  raised  the  aim  of  nations  may  die  unnoticed,  and  the  poet 
who  has  enriched  the  blood  of  the  world  be  left  to  starve. 
Paul  pours  out  his  life,  a  libation  on  God's  altar,  in  agonies 
and  energies  for  his  fellow  men.  He  cleanses  the  customs,  he 
brightens  the  hopes,  he  purifies  the  life,  of  men.  He  adds 
for  centuries  to  the  untold  ennoblement  of  generations ;  and 
what  is  the  sum-total  of  his  reward  ?  What  is  the  inventory 
of  all  his  earthly  possessions,  as  he  sits  upon  his  prison  floor  ? 
Just  "  the  cloke  that  I  left  at  Troas,  and  the  books,  and  the 
parchments."  Do  we  think  that  he  sighed  when  he  con- 
trasted his  sole  possessions — that  cloke  and  books — with  the 
jewels  of  Agrippa,  or  the  purple  of  the  vile  Nero,  or  even 
with  the  gains  of  any  buffoon  or  j>arasite  in  a  rich  man's 
house  ?  Such  rewards  he  had  never  sought.  He  sat  loose 
to  earthly  interests.  He  knew  that  on  earth  the  cross  is 
often  the  reward  of  nobleness,  the  diadem  the  wage  of  guilt. 
No !  he  will  thank  God  for  such  warmth  as  he  may  find  in 
the  cloke,  for  such  consolation  as  the  books  may  bring;  and 
for  the  rest  he  will  trust  death,  he  will  throw  himself  on 
God. 

7.  Thus  much,  surely,  of  instruction  lies,  without  any  pious 
fraud  or  exegetical  jugglery,  in  one  of  the  most  despised 
verses  of  Scrij^ture.  These  are  plain  lessons  to  which  it 
lends  itself  without  any  effort.  Let  us  only  ask  you  in 
conclusion  whence  Paul  derived  this  supreme  nobleness,  this 
divine  contentment  ?  What  was  the  source  of  this  heroic 
faithfulness,  this  absolute  indifference  to  the  dross  and  tinsel, 
the  passing  fashion  and  fading  flower,  of  the  world  ?  Read 
this  his  last  Epistle,  and  you  will  see.  It  was  because  he 
could  say,  "  I  am  now  ready  to  be  poured  furth,  and  the  time 
of  my  departure  is  at  hand.  I  have  fought  the  good  fight ;  I 
have  finished  my  course ;  I  have  kept  the  faith.  Henceforth 
there  is  laid  up  for  me  the  crown  of  righteousness  which  the 
Lord,  the  righteous  Judge,  shall  give  me  at  that  day."  It  was 
because  he  saw  all  life  resting  on  one  foundation  of  God, 


S96  The  Einstles. 

standing  snrc,  \\l\.\\  a  seal  on  it,  and  on  tlie  seal  tliese  two 

divine  legends — one,  "  The  Lord  knoweth  them  that  are  His," 

the  other,  "  Let  every  one  that  nameth  the  name  of  Christ 

depart  from  iniquity."     It  was  because  he  could  say  with  all 

his  heart,  "  Faithful  is  the  saying" — the  saying  which  perhaps 

he  quotes  in  all   its   rhythmic    beauty   from    some    ancient 

Christian  hymn — 

•'If  wc  diod  witl),  we  sliall  also  live  with  Him  ; 
If  we  endure,  we  shall  also  reign  with  Him  ; 
If  we  deny,  lis  also  will  He  deny  ; 
Jf  wo  are  faithless.  He  abideth  taitliful  ; 
For  He  is  not  able  to  deny  Himself."  ' 

*  ii.  7-13.     The  words  are  certainly  rhythmical,  perhaps  liturgical, 


Outline  of  the  Ejnstle.  397 


NOTE    I.  ^  TIMOTHY. 

OUTLINE   OF   THE   SECOND   EI'I.STLE  TO   TIMOTHY. 

1.  Greeting  (i.  1,  2). 

2.  Thauksgiving  (3  5). 

3.  Exhortation  to  steadfastness  in  tlie  Gospel  (G-14). 

4.  The  kindness  of  Onesiphorus  (15-18). 

5.  Continued  exhortations  to  steadfastness,  and  rules  of  pastoral 
conduct  (ii.  1-2(5). 

6.  Warning  against  false  teachers  (iii.  1-iv.  5). 

7.  Personal  details.  Consciousness  of  approaching  death  (iv.  6,  7). 
His  loneliness  and  desertion  (8-18). 

8.  Salutations  (19-21). 

9.  Blessing  (22). 

The  motice  of  the  letter  is  the  desire  for  Timothy's  presence  :  Haste  ! 
Come  !  i^TToihadov  !)  : — 

iv.  9.  "  Haste  to  come  to  me  quickly." 

iv.  21.  "  Haste  to  come  before  winter." 

iv.  13.   "When  thou  comest"  {epxoixevos). 

i.  4.  "  Yearniiuj  (fTmroduu)  to  see  thee." 

iv.  5.   "  My  death  is  near  at  hand  "  (eyw  yap  tj^rj  (TTTiuSufxai). 

The  letter  is  St.  Paul's  last  will  and  testament. 

Be  brave  !  be  faithful  to  the  truth  as  I  have  been  !  Do  not  be  misled 
by  false  teachers.    Come  to  me,  for  I  am  alone,  and  doomed  to  die. 

There  are  hints  and  allusions  that  Timothy,  perhaps  in  his  grief  at 
the  loss  of  his  teacher — was  in  danger  of  yielding  to  timidity,  fear, 
and  sloth.  St.  Paul  writes  to  urge  him  to  "  fan  into  a  flame  "  {dva^Mnv- 
pt'iv)  the  graces  which  he  has  received  by  imposition  of  hands  (i.  6)  because 
God  has  not  given  us  the  spirit  of  cowardice  (SetXi'as).  He  knew  the 
unfeigned  faith  of  Lois  and  Eunice,  "  but "  he  is  persuaded  {TTiTTeia-p-ai  8e) 
that  it  is  in  Timothy  also  (i.  4).  Timothy  is  "not  to  be  ashamed  of 
Paul  and  the  Gospel"  ;  he  is  to  endure  hardship  (KaKOTrddrja-nv,  i.  8,  iv. 
5)  ;  not  to  forsake  Paul  or  to  waver  in  doctrine  as  others  have  done 
i.  8,  12,  15),  but  to  strengthen  himself  (ii.  1),  and  toil  like  the  soldier, 
the  wrestler,  the  husbandman  (ii.  3-6),  and  not  to  be  misled  but  to 
abide  by  the  truth  (i.  13  ;  ii.  23  ;  iii.  14). 

It  can  I  think,  hardly  1je  doubrtd  tliat  deep  as  is  llie  tunc  of  affection 
there  is  yet  an  undertone  of  anxiety  and  misgiving. 


098  The  Epistles. 

2  Ti.MoTiiY.        Among  tlic  more  remarkable  passages  are — 

i.  9,  10.  An  epitome  of  the  GospeL 

ii.  7-13.  The  rliytlimical  expression  of  perfect  confidence  in  Christ. 

ii.  19.  Tlie  double  inscription  on  the  one  foundation. 

iii.  1-9.  The  prophecy  of  Gnostic  corrupters  of  the  Church. 

iii.  16.  The  profitableness  of  all  inspired  Scripture.  "  Every  scripture 
inspired  by  God  is  also  profitable,"  &c. 

iv.  6-1.  The  retrospect  of  his  life. 

Among  the  more  remarkable  expressions  we  ma}-  notice — 

i.  9.  '■'■  Before  times  eternal"  (tt/jo  ;)^poVa)i/  aloiiiu)v).  It  shows  that  otcowov 
means  "  epochal,"  "  age-long." 

ii.  9.  "/  suffer  as  a  mate/actor."  The  two  robbers  are  regarded  as 
"  malefactors,"  Luke  xxiii.  32.  At  this  period  it  was  a  political  crime 
to  be  a  Christian. 

ii.  14.  The  uselessness  and  danger  of  religious  disputes  (/x^  'Koyofxaxf'iv). 

ii.  15.  ^''  Rightly  dividinf]"  (lit.  "  cutting  straight,"  {ufjOoTofiuvvra,  Pro  v. 
iii.  6,  LXX.),  the  word  of  life." 

ii.  16.   "Profane  hahhUncjs"  {0ej31i\ovs  Kevo(f)aii'ias). 

ii.  17.  "  Will  spread  as  a  gangrene  (ws  yi'iyypaiva  vofirjv  e^ft.")  Medical 
terms.  The  beloved  physician  was  at  this  time  his  sole  companion, 
Comp.  KVT]66n{voi.  iv.  3,  lyiaivovarjs,  iv.  3. 

ii.  26.  Lit.  "  That  they  may  become  sober  from  the  snare  of  the  devil, 
after  having  been  taken  captive  by  him  {In  avroZ),  to  do  (eiy)  His  {God's) 
will  {to  iiceivov  QtKrjpia)." 

iii.  4.  '■'■Lovers  of  pleasure  rather  than  lovers  of  God."  Tlie  P^-tlia- 
gorean  Dcmophilus  said  that  no  man  could  be  at  the  same  time  a 
(piXrjBovos  and  a  (f)i\66fos. 

iii.  8.  "■Janncs  and  Jambres."  Names  derived  from  the  Jewish 
ILaggada. 

iii.  15.  "  Tliou  knowest  from  infancy  {ano  jBi^'cjiovs)  the  sacred 
loritings." 


THE  CATHOLIC  EPISTLES. 

The  Epistles  of  St.  Teter,  St.  John,  St.  James  and  St.  Jude  are  called 
"  Catholic  Epistles."  They  seem  to  have  acquired  this  name  in  the  second 
century.  Clement  of  Alexandria  speaks  of  the  Synodical  letter  of  the  Chiircli 
of  Jerusalem  (Acts  xv.)  as  "a  Catholic  Epistle."  Properly  only  three  of  the 
seven  letters  are  "Catholic  "  in  the  proper  sense,  i.e.  General  or  Encyclical. 

The  use  of  the  word  to  mean  "Canonical,"  and  its  rendering  hy  "Canoni- 
cal "  in  the  Western  Church  seem  to  arise  from  mistake. 


THE  EPISTLE  OF  ST.  JAMES. 

WRITTEN    FROM    JERUSALEM    ABOUT   A.D.    61    OR   C2. 


"  A  document  like  the  Ejastle  of  James  shows  completely  how  the  full  con- 
sciousness of  jiossessing  God's  love  and  forgiveness  subordinated  to  itself  all 
reflection  upon  the  menus  by  which  they  were  obtained," — Weiws,  Life  of 
Christ,  i.  4. 

"James  put  this  Epistle  into  the  hands  of  the  Jewish  Christians  that  it 
might  influence  all  Jews,  as  it  was  a  missionary  instruction  to  the  converted 
for  the  unconverted  and  the  truly  converted  for  the  half  converted." — Lange 

"  Thy  works  and  alms  and  all  thy  good  endeavour 
Staid  not  behind  nor  in  the  grave  were  trod ; 
But,  as  Faith  pointed  with  her  golden  rod 
Followed  thee  up  to  joy  and  bliss  for  ever." — Milton, 


"  But  be  ye  doers  of  the  word." — Jas.  i.  22. 

Truth  is  mauy- sided.     We  can  best  apprehend  it  when  it    st.  james. 
is  presented  to  us  in  the  different  aspects  ^w  hich  it  assumes 
to  many  different  minds.    It  was  doubtless  for  this  reason  that 
in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  Gud  has  revealed  Himself  in 
many  fragments  and  many  ways. 

We  can  see  quite  clearly  from  the  New  Testament  and 
from  early  Christian  history  that  there  were  in  the  Church 
two  parties  or  schools  of  thought — the  Jewish- Christian  and 
the  Paulinist.  The  views  of  both  were  due  to  the  natural 
growth  of  the  Church,  and  were  alike  compatible  with  per- 
fect faithfulness  to  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  The  thoughts  of 
the  Jewish-Christians  were  deeply  rooted  in  the  past;  the 
more  progressive   and    expansive   views    of  the    Paulinists 

D  D 


402  Tlie  Catholic  Eirlstlcs. 

AMES,     were  mainly  occupied  Avith    tlie  future  of  the  kingdom   of 
God. 

Tlie  acknowledged  head  of  the  Jewish  Christians  was 
Jarae.s,  the  first  recognised  prcsbyter-Lishop  of  the  Church  of 
Jerusalem,  whom,  without  any  controversy  on  the  subject, 
we  may  here  call  by  the  name  under  which  he  was  known  to 
the  Apostles  and  to  the  Church  of  the  first  century, — "James 
the  Lord's  brother." 

During  the  lifetime  of  Jesus,  "  His  brethren  did  not 
believe  on  Him."  Immediately  after  the  Ascension  they 
appear  in  close  union  with  the  Apostles  as  faithful  Christians. 
The  change  was  wrought  by  the  Resurrection.  We  find  the 
clue  to  that  change  in  the  passing  reference  of  St,  Paul — 
"  then  He  was  seen  of  James."  ^  Seven  or  eight  years  later 
James  is  incidentally  mentioned  among  those  whom  St.  Paul 
saw  when,  after  his  return  from  Damascus,  he  spent  fourteen 
days  in  Jerusalem.^  Six  years  more  elapse  and  we  find  that 
in  the  year  A.D.  44,  when  James  the  son  of  Zebedee  had 
been  martyred  by  Herod  Agrippa  the  First  and  Peter  had 
been  thrown  into  prison,  Peter  on  his  escape  sends  a 
special  message  to  James — "Tell  James,"  he  says,  "and  the 
brethren."  ^ 
<  '  ^"'  That  expression  shows  that  on  the  death  of  James  the  son 
of  Zebedee,  James  the  Lord's  brother  became  the  recognised 
ruler  of  the  Church  of  Jerusalem. 
■'* \iJ^  An  old  and  probable  tradition  says  that  the  Apostles  had 
'''  been  bidden  by  the  Risen  Christ  to  make  Jerusalem  their 
^  head-quarters  for  twelve  years,  and  then  to  preach  the 
Gospel  far  and  wide  to  all  nations.*  When  the  Apostles  had 
thus  sei3arated  in  fulfilment  of  their  high  mission,  it  was 
natural  that  the  stationary  superintendence  of  the  Christians 
at  Jerusalem  should  be  intrusted  to  James.  His  force  of 
character,   his  near  kinsmanship   to  Christ  after  the  flesh, 

J  1  Cor.  XV.  7.  2  Gal.  i.  18,  19.  »  Acts  xii.  17. 

*  Clem.  Alex.  Sirom.  vi.  5,  §  43  (quoting  the  Ki^uy/ta  Uirpov)  and  Apol- 
louius  a}).  Euseb.  H.E.  v.  13. 


The  LonVs  Brother.  403 

pointed    him    out   as    a    natural    successor   to    tlie    son   of    st.  james. 
Zebedee. 

The  choice  was  eminently  wise.     The  mother-Church  was 
composed  exckisively  of  Jewish  Christians,  among  whom  were 
not  a  few  converted  priests  and  Pharisees.     The  Christians, 
who,  in  many  thousands,^  visited  Jerusalem  at  the  yearly  Pass- 
overs, were  also  strict  Judaists.     We  shall  not  understand 
early  Christian  history,  and  much  of  the  New  Testament  will 
be  dim  to  us,  if  we  do  not  bear  in  mind  that  Christ  had 
not    formally    abrogated    the    Mosaic    dispensation ;    that 
Judaism   was   the   cradle    of   Christianity ;    that    the   first 
Cliristians  had  been  trained  in  adoring  acceptance  of  the 
old  Levitic  law;  that  the   Temple  was  still   standing,  the 
feasts  still   observed,   the   sacrifices  still   offered  ;    that  the 
Apostles  lived  in  rigid  obedience   to  these  rites  and  cere- 
monies;   that   the  vast   majority   of  the   early  converts  in 
Palestine,   and    large    numbers   even   in    the   Churches    of 
Europe  and  Asia,  were  Jews  first  and  Christians  afterwards. 
The  wine  was  new,  but  the  wine-skins  were  old.    The  Jewish 
Christians,  who  had  thus  barely  stepped  into  the  Church 
out  of  the  portals  of  the  synagogue,  did  not  understand — it 
was  not  natural  that  at  first  they  should  be  able  to  under- 
stand— the  mystery  of  evangelical  freedom  which  had  been 
revealed  to  the  daring  genius  of  St.  Paul.     James  the  Lord's 
brother  to  a  ^reat  extent  shared  in  their  views.     He  saw 
indeed  more  clearly  than  most  of  them  that  it  was  right,  nay 
inevitable,  that  to  a  great  extent  the  Gentiles  should  be  left 
free ;   but  in  all  other  respects    he  was  a  Hebrew  of  the 
Hebrews,  a   rigid  observer  of  the  Mosaic  ritual,  a  regular 
worshipper  in  the  Temple,  a  man  who  intensely  valued  the 
privileges  of  the  chosen  people.     Men  knew  that  the  blood  of 
David,  perhaps  also  the  blood  of  Aaron,  flowed  in  his  veins. 
He  was  all  the  more  a  pillar  of  the  Christian  community 
because  even  the  Jews  looked  up  to  him  Avith  reverence.     So 

^  Acts  xxi.  20,  Qwpus,  a.l€\<p\,   ir6(rat  /.wpidSes  ela-lv  'lovSalooi/  roiv  TreiritrTeu- 

KOTWV. 

D    D    2 


40^  The  Catholic  Epistles. 

ST.  JAMES,  strict  were  his  legal  observances  that  they  called  him  "the 
righteous  one,"  and  Ohliam,  "  the  bulwark  of  the  people." 
They  told  how  he  was  often  found  prostrate  in  the  sanctuary 
in  earnest  supjilication  for  the  jDeople  of  Gotl,  and  that  his 

-^  knees  were  hard  with  kneeling  in  prayer.  More  than  all 
this,  he  was  a  Nazarite  and  an  ascetic.     He  was  clad  only  in 

-  white  linen,  and  the  long  unshorn  locks  of  the  vow  of  his 
youth  streamed  over  his  shoulders.  As  he  rose  to  speak  the 
grandeur  of  his  appearance,  the  mysterious  awe  which  clung 
about  him  as  the  heir  of  the  line  of  David  and  the  earthly 
brother  of  his  Lord,  the  stern  sanctity  of  his  life,  the  as- 
cendency of  his  powerful  character,  the  spell  of  his  life-long 
vow  gave  to  his  words  a  force  which  exceeded  that  of  all  the 
other  dwellers  in  Jerusalem.  If  there  w-as  any  man  who 
could  have  won  back  his  countrymen  to  the  Messiah  whom 
they  had  rejected,  this  was  he  whose  mission  was  most  likely 
to  be  favourably  accepted. 

His  antecedents,  his  training,  his  position,  all  that  we  know 
of  his  personal  character  and  history  furnish  us  with  the  sole 
clue  to  the  difficulties  of  his  Epistle. 

That  Epistle  was  probably  written  shortly  before  his 
martyrdom  at  the  hands  of  the  Jews  in  A.D.  63.  All  the 
allusions  which  it  contains,  and  the  general  tone  of  it,  cor- 
respond well  with  this  date.  The  sins  which  he  so  sternly 
rebukes  were  the  very  sins  which  sprang  into  such  terrible 
prominence  during  the  closing  days  of  the  Jewish  nationality. 
The  denunciations  of  the  rich  accord  with  the  eight-fold 
curse,  traditionally  remembered,  and  in  the  Talmud  thrice 
repeated,  against  the  Sadducean  j)riests  who  fit  that  time 
horrified,  oppressed,  and  betrayed  the  Jewish  Church.  Sins 
of  the  tongue,  feuds  and  factions,  wars  and  fightings,  w^orldli- 
uess  and  presumption,  insincerity  and  double-mindedness, 
were  the  vices  which  at  that  epoch  were  rife  among  the  Jews 
throughout  the  world,  and  were  tending  to  the  swift  de- 
struction of  their  place  and  nation.  As  were  tlie  priests 
so  Avere  the  people.     There  was  but  one  remedy  possible ; 


James.  405 

there  was  but  one  chance  left  for  the  Jewish  race.  It  was 
that  they  should  learn  to  see  in  Christianity  the  true  theo- 
cratic inheritance.  This  St.  Peter  had  tried  to  teach  them. 
It  was  that  they  should  turn  from  the  shadow  to  the  sub- 
stance, from  the  transient  to  the  permanent,  from  the  Aaronic 
to  the  Eternal  Priesthood.  This  the  author  of  the  EjDistle 
to  the  Hebrews  had  tried  to  teach  them.  It  was  that  instead 
of  trusting  to  a  dead  profession  and  an  external  conformity 
they  should  learn  to  obey  from  the  heart  the  royal  and 
perfect  law  of  liberty.  This  was  the  lesson  which  is  here 
enforced  upon  them  by  St.  James. 

His  faithfulness  precipitated  his  death.  In  all  other 
respects  the  Jews  loved  and  reverenced  him,  but  they  did 
not  forgive  his  emphatic  testimony  to  the  Messiahship  of 
Jesus,  or  his  bold  rebuke  of  their  refusal  to  look  on  Him 
whom  they  had  pierced.  It  was  this,  if  we  may  ti-ust  the 
testimony  of  Hegesippus,  which  led  to  the  murder  of  the 
unresisting  Just  One.  His  Epistle  was  written  almost  cer- 
tainly from  Jerusalem.^  It  reads  like  the  pastoral  of  some  ideal 
"  Prince  of  the  Captivity "  to  all  the  faithful.  It  was  the 
last  appeal  addressed  to  the  Jews  in  the  tones  of  ancient 
prophecy  by  one  whom  early  legend  described  as  "a  Clu'istian 
High  Priest  wearing  the  golden  mitre."  It  was  a  missive 
like  that  which  was  despatched  from  time  to  time  to  the 
Jews  of  the  Dispersion  by  the  great  Hierarch  of  the  Temple. 

We  will  first  consider  the  message  and  outline  of  this 
memorable  Epistle,  and  then  try  to  account  for  its  many 
peculiarities. 

It  is  addressed  to  the  "  twelve  tribes  that  are  in  the  Disper- 
sion"— in  other  words  to  Jews  scattered  throughout  the  world. 
There  can,  however,  be  no  question  that  by  the  twelve  tribes 
are  meant  pi-hnarily  not  Jews  but  Christians,  for  St.  James 
begins  by  calling  himself  "  a  slave  of  God   and  of  the  Lord 

^  This  view  is  favoured  both  by  what  we  know  of  St.  James's  history  and  by 
all  the  local  allusions  to  oil,  wine,  figs  (iii.  12),  the  KausOn,  or  Sirocco  (i.  11), 
the  earlier  and  latter  rain  (v.  7)  &c.  St.  James  was  doubtless  familiar  with 
Joppa  also  (i.  6  ;  iii.  4  ;  iv.  13). 


406  The  Catholic  Epistles. 

Jesus  Christ,"  and  in  tlie  only  other  passage  in  which 
the  name  of  Christ  occurs  he  assumes  that  he  is  addressing 
Christians,  for  he  says,  "  ]\Iy  brethren,  hold  not  the  faith  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Lord  of  the  glory,  with  respect  of 
persons."  Yet  from  the  whole  tone  of  the  Epistle,  and  from 
its  special  allusions,  it  seems  highly  probable  that  he  took 
advantage  of  the  honour  in  which  his  name  was  universally 
held  as  a  bulwark  of  the  people  to  address  Jews  also  while 
he  is  addressing  Christians.  To  Gentiles  he  does  not  once 
allude.  To  him  the  Church  (v.  14)  is  still  the  synagogue 
(ii.  2).  He  is  speaking  through  the  converted  to  the  unconverted 
and  the  half-converted  among  his  own  people.  Jews  were  to 
him  Christian  catechumens;  Christians  w^ere  to  him  ideal 
Jews.  He  is  writing  throughout  with  a  sort  of  dual  con- 
sciousness, and  is  mentally  addressing  his  contemporaries  at 
Jerusalem  while  he  is  nominally  speaking  to  Christians 
throughout  the  world.  He  could  only  judge  of  Jewish  and 
Christian  communities  by  the  state  of  things  which  he  saw 
during  his  many  years  of  residence  in  Jerusalem.  The  signifi- 
cance of  his  Epistle  becomes  more  marked  if  we  remember 
that  it  derived  much  of  its  colouring  from  the  condition 
of  Judaism  in  the  ferment  of  its  fierce  hopes  and  on  the  eve 
of  its  final  overthrow. 

The  Epistle  scarcely  admits  of  an  anal3'sis.  One  of  its 
characteristics  is  the  extreme  abruptness  with  which  the 
writer  plunges  into  each  new  subject,  following  no  other  order 
than  that  suggested  by  mental  associations  which  he  has  not 
explained. 

Ewald  divides  the  Epistle  into  seven  sections,  followed  by 
three  appendices,  and  it  is  quite  possible  that  St.  James,  no 
less  than  his  brother  St.  Jude,  his  kinsman  St.  John  the 
Evangelist,  and  the  author  of  the  Book  of  Wisdom  with  which 
he  was  familiar  may  have  been  influenced  by  Concinnity  and 
the  Kabbalism  of  sacred  numbers. 

].  After  the  brief  greeting  (i.  1)  the  first  section  speaks  of 
the  endurance  of  trials  (2-18). 


Outline.  407 

They  should  be  borne  with  joy,  being  meant  to  test  faith,  st.  james. 
The  wisdom  to  use  them  aright  can  be  obtained  by  prayer, 
steadfastness,  single-heartedness.  Alike  wealth  and  poverty  are 
trials,  but  they  only  become  perilous  as  temptations  when  men 
yield  to  their  own  lusts.  Every  good  gift — above  all  our  new 
birth  by  the  word  of  tnith — comes  from  God  alone. 

2.  The  next  section  deals  mainly  with  hearing  and  doing 
God's  word  (i.  19-27). 

To  hear  is  nothing  unless  it  result  in  doing,  and  the  true 
ritual  is  active  love. 

3.  The  next  section  is  on  respect  of  persons  (ii.  1-13). 
After  sharply  and  sternly  rebuking  the  undue  partiality  shown 
to  rich  men,  even  when  they  were  tyrannous,  unjust,  and 
godless,  he  shows  that  such  conduct,  involving  as  it  does  a 
deep  injustice  to  the  poor,  is  a  violation  of  the  perfect  law  of 
hberty  and  of  the  supreme  prerogative  of  mercy. 

4.  The  next  section  is  the  controversial  part  of  the  Epistle 
in  which  he  treats  of  the  relation  between  faith  and  works 
(ii.  14-26). 

He  shows  that  a  fruitless  faith,  which  consists  in  idle  pro- 
fessions, and  which  performs  no  deeds  of  mercy,  can  profit  no 
man,  and  he  points  out  that  both  Abraham  and  Rahab  were 
saved  by  works.  This  section  was  probably  suggested  by  the 
last,  because  St.  James  saw  that  the  selfish  arrogance  of  the 
rich  and  the  abject  servility  of  their  flatterers  arose  from  a 
reliance  on  nominal  orthodoxy  apart  from  Christian  effort. 

5.  The  fifth  section  deals  with  the  control  of  the  tongue  as 
the  true  wisdom  (iii.). 

6.  The  sixth  section  sternly  denounces  the  wickedness  of 
strife  and  evil  speaking  (iv.  1-13). 

7.  In  the  seventh  section  he  reverts  to  tlie  sins  of  the  rich 
— their  braggart  vaunt  of  independence,  their  pride,  luxury, 
and  oppression — while  he  comforts  the  poor,  and  counsels  them 
to  patient  waiting  for  the  coming  of  the  Lord  (v.  1-11). 

Then  follow  three  separate  paragraphs. 

i.  The  first  speaks  of  the  sinfulness  of  needless  oaths  (v.  12), 


408  The  Catholic  Epistles. 

ii.  The  next  deals  with  the  power  of  prayer  and  Christian 
intercourse,  especially  in  sickness  (v.  13-18), 

iii.  The  third  abruptly  terminates  the  Epistle  with  a 
solemn  declaration  of  the  blessedness  of  converting  others, 
"  With  a  glorious  doctrine,"  says  Zwingli, "  as  with  a  colophon, 
he  ends  his  Epistle." 

Such  is  the  stern,  Aveiglity,  manly  Epistle  of  the  Lord's 
brother.     We  may  now  glance  at  some  of  its  specific  features. 

1.  Its  style  is  remarkable.  It  combines  pure,  and  eloquent 
and  rhythmical  Greek  with  Hebrew  intensity  of  expression.  It 
has  all  the  fiery  sternness  and  vehemence  of  the  ancient 
prophets,  while  it  is  chiefly  occupied  Avith  inculcating  the 
truths  of  the  "Sapiential"  literature — the  wisdom  of  the 
gnomologists.  It  is  at  once  fervid  and  picturesque.  It  abounds 
in  passionate  ejaculations,  rapid  questions,  graphic  similitudes. 
It  is  less  a  letter  than  a  moral  harangue  stamped  with  the 
lofty  personality  of  the  writer,  and  afire  with  his  burning 
sincerity.  "  What  a  noble  man  speaks  in  this  Ejoistle ! " 
exclaims  the  eloquent  Herder.  "  Deep  unbroken  patience  in 
suffering  !  Greatness  in  poverty  !  Joy  in  sorrow  !  Simplicity, 
sincerity,  firm,  direct  confidence  in  prayer  !  How  he  wants 
action  !     Action,  not  words,  not  dead  faith  !  " 

2.  Its  leading  idea  is  that  faith  without  works  is  dead.  He 
has  flashed  the  lightning  of  this  conviction  into  every  one  of 
the  several  sections.  It  is  the  one  thought  which  gives  unity 
to  all  that  he  has  said  about  endurance  ;  about  temptations ; 
about  the  rich  and  the  poor  and  their  mutual  relations  to 
each  other ;  about  prayer ;  about  perfection. 

3.  It  is  marked  by  abruptness.     It  plunges  in  mcdias  res 

from  point  to  point  with  no  connecting  sentences.     It  begins 

with  no  thanksgiving,  it  ends  with  no  benediction.     Clause  is 

atta,chcd  to  clause,  something  in  the  manner  of  St.  John  by 

what  is  called  duadiplosis, — i.e.,  by  the  repetition  of  a  previous 

word.^  Tiie  writer  will  not  throw  away  any  superfluous  words  ; 

'  See  i.  1,  "givinp;  thee  joy"  ;  2.  "Count  it  all  joy": —  3.  "Trial 
wnrketh  patience :  4.  "  lUit  let  patience  have  her  perfect  work  ; "  and 
BO  on,  thron"liont. 


Ebionism.  409 

he  does    not   care  for  preambles   or   formulae.      His    stern,    ; 

unbending  character  is  reflected  in  his  manner  of  address. 

4.  It  contains,  as  do  the  writings  of  St.  Luke,  an  element  of 

what  has  been  called  Ebionism.     The   word   EUon   means 

"poor,"  and  the  Ebionites   were   deeply   impressed   by  the 

beatitudes  of  voluntary  poverty.     Some  readers  have  been  so 

much  struck  by  the  severity   of  St.  James's  denunciations 

against  the  rich  that  they  have  argued  in  favour  of  giving  a 

metaphorical  sense  to  the  words  "  rich  "  and   "  poor."     The 

supposition  is  impossible.       Without    being  an  Ebionite  St. 

James  from  his  Nazarite  vow,  from  the  simplicity  of  his  life 

and  training,  from  the  early  communism  of  the  Church  of 

Jerusalem,  and  from  the  lessons  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount 

may  have  looked  with  admiration  on  contented  poverty.     At 

the  same  time,  the  greed,  the  cruel  injustice,  the  insolent 

violence  of  the  hierarchy  whose  shameful  doings  he  daily 

witnessed  were  more  than  enough    to    suggest  his  burning 

denunciations   against   godless   wealth.      A   man   who    had 

witnessed  the  gross  misconduct  of  the  Saddiicees  who  then 

ruled  at  Jerusalem — the  gluttony  of  John,  son  of  Nebedaeus, 

the  blows  inflicted  by  the  adherents  of  Ishmael  Ben  Phabi, 

the  viper-hissings  of  the  House  of  Hanan, the  "bludgeons"  of 

the   Boethusim,   the   libels    of    the    Kantheras — had    cause 

enough  to  exclaim  amid  the  impending  ruin  of  his  country, 

"  Go  to  now,  ye  rich  men,  weep  and  howl  for  the  miseries  that 

shall  come  upon  you."^ 

5.  This  Epistle  furnishes  an  unusual  number  of  parallels 

to  other  writings. 

It  reflects  more  than  any  other  book  of  the  New  Testament 

the  language  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  and  offers  many 

close  resemblances  to  the  Proverbs  of  Solomon,  and  the  Books 

of  Ecclesiasticus  and  Wisdom.    St.  James  had  evidently  been  a 

1  St.  James  has  been  called  an  Essene  because  of  his  views  about  "help" 
and  "mercy"  which  were  the  special  duty  of  Essencs,  together  with  his 
lessons  about  riches,  and  the  virtue  of  silence,  and  tlie  duty  of  checking; 
wrath  (Jas.  i.  19  ;  ii.  5-13  ;  iv,  13  ;  v,  12.  Comp.  Joseph.  B.  J  ii.  8  §  6. 
riiilo,  Quod  omnis  probiis  liber,  §  12).  But  any  Christian  who  had  studied 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  might  have  written  on  these  subjects. 


410  The  Catholic  Epistles. 

close  student  of  what  the  Jews  called  the  cliohmah — the  litera- 
ture about  "  Wisdom,"  ^  Most  of  the  early  Christian  writers 
show  traces  of  the  effects  produced  in  their  minds  by  the  words 
of  others ;  but  St.  James  is  no  mere  plastic  borrower,  like 
Clemens  of  Rome  for  instance.  Into  all  that  he  borrows  from 
others  he  infuses  an  individual  force  which  makes  it  original. 

6.  The  Epistle  is  more  wanting  than  any  other  in  distinc- 
tively Christian  and  spiritual  elements.  Twice  only  does 
he  mention  the  name  of  Christ.  Not  once  does  he  use  the 
word  "  Gospel."  Not  once  does  he  allude  to  the  work  of 
Redemption,  or  to  the  Incarnation,  or  the  Resurrection,  or 
Ascension.  Even  the  rules  of  morality  are  inculcated  without 
any  of  those  constant  references  to  specifically  Christian 
motives,  which  are  never  wanting  in  the  writings  of  St.  Paul, 
and  which  constitute  the  basis  of  all  appeals  in  St.  Peter  and 
St.  John.  The  morality  of  St.  James  is  indeed  "  touched  by 
emotion,"  but  it  is  urged  with  no  constant  and  immediate 
reference  to  the  highest  Christian  sanctions. 

The  reason  of  this  peculiarity  is  not  far  to  seek.  It  lies  in 
the  fact  that  the  Epistle  was  intentionally  and  avowedly 
a  moral  appeal,  not  a  theological  treatise ;  partly  also  in  the 
character  and  past  training  of  St.  James,  and  in  the  fact  that 
he  is  constantly  thinking  of  the  state  of  things  which  he  saw 
around  him  among  unconverted  Jews.  He  saw  on  every  side 
hollow  professions  of  religion,  gross  partiality,  idolatry  of  riches 
arrogant  evil  speaking,  factious  partisanship,  unblushing  world- 
liness,  sensual  self-indulgence.  These  were  the  sins  which  he 
had  to  denounce  ;  and  if  he  met  them  without  direct  reference 
to  the  deepest  mysteries  of  Christian  theology  it  was  partly 
because  that  theology  was  already  fully  known  to  his  Christian 
readers,  while  it  would  have  had  no  weight  with  the  Jews 
whom  he  also  desired  to  teach.  His  object  is  ethical.  He  has 
to  set  forth  an  ideal  legalism — the  legalism  of  the  royal  and 
perfect  law  of  liberty  as  it  had  been  set  forth  in  the  Sermon 

^  There  are  six  allusions  to  the  Book  of  Job,  ten  to  Proverbs,  five  to  Wisdom, 
and  lifleeu  to  Ecclesiasticus. — Immer,  Thcologie,  p.  423. 


General  Tone.  411 

on  the  Mount — in  opposition  to  the  Judaic  legalism  which  left  st.  james. 
room  for  Antinomian  license  and  prating  sloth.  What  he  had 
to  counteract  was  the  barren  predominance  of  a  subjective 
dogmatism  which  was  dissevered  from  practical  activity.  "What 
he  had  to  obviate  was  the  dangerous  falling  asunder  of 
knowledge  and  action. 

Nor  must  it,  on  the  other  hand,  be  overlooked  that,  besides 
the  preciousness  of  this  Epistle  as  a  protest  on  behalf  of  the 
necessity  for  what  is  idly  called  "  mere  morality,"  it  is  (a)  more 
full  than  any  other  of  thoughts  drawn  from  the  discourses 
of  Christ ;  ^  (J3)  it  has  one  passage  of  deep  and  comprehensive 
theology  (i.  18) ;  and  (7)  it  contains  a  sketch  of  heavenly 
wisdom  almost  worthy  to  be  hung  side  by  side  with  St.  Paul's 
immortal  picture  of  Christian  love.^  Little  as  he  touches  on 
specific  dogmas  he  has  shown  the  glory  of  Christian  ethics,  and 
"  a  Church  which  lived  in  sincere  accordance  with  his  lessons 
would  in  no  respect  dishonour  the  Christian  name."  Moreover 
his  allusions  to  Christian  truth  are  quite  distinct.  He  would 
not  have  called  himself  "  the  slave  "  (i.  1)  of  any  one  whom 
he  regarded  as  merely  man  ;  nor  would  he  have  given  to  any 
man  the  title  of  the  "  Lord  of  the  Glory." 

7.  It  has  been  asserted  that  the  passage  about  faith 
and  works  is  a  polemic  against  the  doctrine  of  St.  Paul. 

It  is  on  this  ground  that  the  Epistle  was  so  strongly  con- 
demned by  Luther  as  "  a  downright  strawy  Epistle,  which  lacks 
all  Evangelical  character ;"  ^  as  "  wholly  inferior  to  the 
Apostolic  majesty ; "  ■*  as  "  unworthy  of  an  Apostolic  spirit ; "  ^ 
as  "  flatly  (stracks)  contradicting  Paul  and  all  Scripture."^  On 
similar  grounds  it  was  disparaged  by  Erasmus,  Cajetan,  the 
Magdeburg  centuriators,  Grotius  and  Wetstein.  Strobel  said 
that,  "  no  matter  in  what  sense  we  take  the  Epistle,  it  is  always 
in  conflict  with  the  remaining  parts  of  Holy  Writ." 

'  There  are  ten  allusions  to  tlie  Sermon  on  the  Mount. 
'■^  See  also  ii.  1,  ii.  7  ;  v.  6,  14. 
8  Preface  to  New  Test.  1524,  p.  105. 

"  Seventh  Thesis  against  Eck,  1519.  «  De  Captiv.  Bahyl.  1520. 

^  Preface  of  1522.  8ee  too  Poslills,  where  it  is  spoken  of  as  "nowhere 
conformable  to  the  true  Apostolic  character." 


4.12  The  Catliolic  Epistles. 

Luther,  as  Archdeacon  Hare  says,  "  did  not  always  weigh 
his  words  in  jewellers'  scales,"  and  it  is  impossible  not  to 
admire  the  noble  independence  of  a  spirit  which  was  free  and 
bold  because  it  was  living  and  because  it  felt  the  Spirit  of  God 
as  a  fresh  power.  But  his  condemnation  of  the  Epistle  rose 
from  his  not  possessing  the  right  clue  to  its  comprehension. 
"  Many,"  he  says,  "  have  toiled  to  reconcile  Paul  with  James 
....  but  to  no  purpose,  for  they  are  contrary.  *  Faith 
justifies;'  'Faith  does  not  justify;'  I  will  pledge  my  life 
that  no  one  can  reconcile  those  propositions,  and  if  he  succeeds 
he  may  call  me  a  fool."  ^ 

It  is  obvious  to  say  that  the  propositions  cannot  be  re- 
conciled if  St.  James  and  St.  Paul  meant  the  same  things  by 
"  Faith,"  "  Justification,"  and  "  Works."  But  if  it  is  de- 
monstrable that  they  meant  different  things — if  those  three 
terms  in  the  mouth  of  St.  Paul  connoted  something  quite 
unlike  what  they  connoted  to  St.  James — the  synthesis  of 
their  apparently  opposing  views  may  be  quite  easy. 

For,  in  brief,  by  "  faith "  in  its  highest  sense  St.  Paul 
meant  mystic  union  with  Christ ;  and  St.  James  meant 
only  theoretic  belief 

By  "  works  "  St.  Paul  mainly  meant  Levitic  observances 
and  ceremonial  externalism,  or  at  the  very  best  servile 
naked  duty ;  St.  James  meant  works  of  love  and  mercy, 
wrought  in  conformity  with  the  royal  and  perfect  law  of 
liberty. 

By  "justification"  St.  Paul  meant  the  righteousness  of 
God  imputed  to  guilty  men ;  St.  James  meant  the  righteous- 
ness manifested  in  those  whose  life  is  in  accordance  with  their 
belief;  just  as  St.  Paul  himself  meant  when,  in  the  very 
Epistle  which  he  devotes  to  the  doctrine  of  "  Justification  by 
Faith,"  he  says  (Rom.  ii.  14)  that  "  the  doers  of  the  law  shall 
be  justified,"  without  in  the  least  intending  to  contradict  his 
own  words  that  "  from  the  works  of  the  law  shall  no  flesh  be 
justified  in  His  sight." 

1  Cvlloquia,  ii.  202. 


St.  James  and  St.  Paul.  413 

It  is  not  even  certain  that  St.  James  intended  in  any  way  st.  james, 
to  correct  the  views  of  the  followers  of  St,  Paul.  For  the 
question  of  faith  and  works  was  constantly  discussed  in  the 
Jewish  schools,  and  constantly  illustrated,  on  both  sides,  by 
the  cases  of  Abraham  and  Eahab.  But  even  if  his  remarks 
were  intended  to  have  the  character  of  a  polemic  they  in  no 
wise  touched  St.  Paul's  real  position,  while  yet  they  might  be 
both  valid  and  useful  against  those  who  perverted  his  formulae 
and  misrej)resented  his  real  meaning. 

This  at  any  rate  is  certain,  that  even  if  the  Apostle  of  the 
Gentiles  and  the  Bishop  of  Jerusalem  misunderstood  each 
other's  phraseology  there  was  between  them  a  fundamental 
agreement.  For  St.  James  writes  of  faith  in  i.  3,  6,  ii.  1,  2,  5, 
6,  22,  2G,  in  terms  which  might  have  been  adopted  veo-latim 
by  St.  Paul;  and  St.  Paul  in  2  Cor.  ix.  8,  Eph.  ii.  10,  Col.  i. 
10,  2  Thess.  ii.  17,  and  in  multitudes  of  other  passages,  writes 
of  works  in  terms  which  might  have  been  verbatim  adopted 
by  St.  James.  Both  Apostles  would  have  freely  conceded 
that  faith  without  works  is  barren  orthodoxy,  and  works 
without  faith  are  mere  legal  righteousness.  And  both 
would  have  agreed  that  all  apparent  and  superficial  discrep- 
ancies vanish  in  such  broad  truths  as  those  expressed  by 
St.  John,  when  he  says  that  "  if  we  say  we  have  fellowship 
with  Him,  and  walk  in  darkness,  we  lie  and  do  not  the 
truth." 

Those  then  who  have  spoken  depreciatingly  of  the  Epistle 
have  done  it  grave  injustice.  The  Apostles  have  taught  us 
in  different  but  not  in  discordant  voices.  It  therefore  be- 
comes the  duty  of  Catholic  Christianity  to  adjust  one  truth 
with  another,  and  to  place  apparent  contraries  in  their  position 
of  proper  equilibrium.^  We  may  rejoice  that  the  wisdom  of 
God  is  manifold,  and  that  the  Church  of  God  is  circumamida 
varictatihus — clad  in  raiment  of  rich  embroidery.  St.  Peter 
is  the  Apostle  of  Hope ;  St.  Paul  of  Faith  ;  St,  John  of  Love ; 
St.  James  completes  tlie  ideal  of  Christian  life,  when  he 
1  Baur,  Ch.  Hid.  pp.  128-130. 


4U  The  Catholic  Epistles. 

stands  forth  as  the  Apostle  of  Works,  For,  as  St.  Paul  also 
says,  "  lu  Christ  Jesus  neither  circumcision  availeth  anything 
nor  uncircumcision,  but  faith  working  by  means  of  love,"  and 
"  a  new  creature,"  and  "  a  keeping  of  the  commandments  of 
God ; "  ^  and  again  "  the  end  of  the  commandment  is  love 
out  of  a  pure  heart,  and  of  a  good  conscience,  and  of  faith 
unfeigned."  ^ 

1  Gal.  V.  6  ;  vi.  15  ;  1  Cor.  vii.  19. 

2  1  Tim.  i.  5. 


Leading  Words  and  Peculiar  Exjjressioris.      415 


NOTE  I. 

LEADING  WORDS   IN   ST.    JAMES. 

Endurance,  Patience,  Submission  (virofiovfi,  i.  3,  4,  12,  v.  11  ;  Mok- 
podv^ia,Y.  7,  8-10;  vnoTayrjTe,  iv.  7;  TaTTfipdidrjTf,  iv.  10;  Karij^eta,  "dowii- 
castness  of  face,"  here  alone,  iv.  9). 

Temptation  {neipaanos,  i.  2,  12,  13,  14). 

Perfection  (TiXfios),  i.  4,  17,  28  ;  iii.  2.     Comp.  ]\[att.  v.  48. 

Prayer  (i.  5-7,  iv.  2,  3,  8  ;  v.  13-18). 


NOTE  11. 

PECULIAR   EXPRESSIONS   IN   ST.    JAMES. 

i.  1.  "  To  the  twelve  tribes  in  the  dispersion.''^  Tlie  word  diaspora 
only  occurs  in  John  vii.  35  ;  1  Pet.  i.  1  ;  and  in  the  LXX.  Ps.  cxlvi.  2 ; 
Deut.  xxviii.  25.  St.  Paul  uses  the  phrase  "  our  twelve-tribed  nation  " 
{to  8a)8fKdcj}v\ov,  Acts  xxvi.  7).  The  fiction  that  the  lost  Ten  Tribes 
still  existed  as  a  body  first  occnrs  in  2  Esdr.  xiii.  39-47.  Even  the 
Talmud  recognises  their  complete  dispersion  (Sanhedrin,  f.  110.  2).  But 
many  individual  Jews  liept  their  separate  tribal  genealogies. 

i.  1.  "Greeting"  (xaipeiv),  "giving  them  joy."  This  was  the  Greek 
method  of  address,  and  elsewhere  occurs  only,  in  Gentile  letters  (Acts 
xxiii.  26  ;  2  ]\Iacc,  ix.  9).  Tlie  Hebrew  greeting  was  Shalom,  "  Peace  ! " 
It  is  singular  that  St.  James,  both  here  and  in  Acts  xv.  23,  uses  only 
xnt'pffi',  but  the  LXX.  render  Shalom  by  ^^a/petv  in  Is.  xlviii.  22  ; 
Ivii.  21. 

i.  3.  "  The  testing  {to  Sokiulov)  of  your  faith."  Tlie  phrase  is  adopted 
by  St.  Peter  (i.  7). 

1.  8.  "A  two-souled  man"  {avrjp  8l\I/vxos).  Also  in  iv.  8,  comp.  Ps. 
xii.  2  ;  "  a  double  heart,"  lit.  "  a  heart  and  a  heart."  Ecclus.  i.  28  ; 
Matt.  vi.  24. 

i.  1.  Unstable,  restless  {dKarua-TaTos,  comp.  iii.  16,  aKaTaaraa-ia).  This 
word,  with  the  metaphor  of  waves  driven  and  tossed  by  the  wind,  well 
expresses  the  state  of  excitement,  political  and  Messianic,  which  then 
prevailed  in  Palestine. 

i.  11.  The  Kauson — the  burning,  scorching  wind  ;  the  Kadim,  or 
Simoom  was  the  worst  form  of  it,  Jon.  iv.  8  ;  Hos.  xiii.  15,  &c. 


41 G  The  Catholic  Einstlcs. 

i.  13.  "  Untempied  of  evil."  "  God  is  always  in  tlie  meridian."  He  is 
out  of  the  sphere  of  evih 

i.  14.  Enticed  {8€-K(aC<'w''0i,  2  Pet.  ii.  14,  18.  Prov.  xxx.  13,  LXX.) ; 
a  metaphor  from  a  tish  cauglit  with  a  bait  or  lure. 

i.  17.  "The  Father  of  the  LUjhtsy  Probably  "the  Creator  of  the 
heavenly  bodies." 

"No  variableness  nor  shadow  of  turning."  Tlie  words  used  are  tech- 
nically astronomical,  but  the  meaning  is  the  same  as  that  of  St.  John, 
"  Gud  is  light,  and  in  Him  is  no  darkness  at  all,"  1  John  i.  5.  "  Though 
the  lights  of  heaven  have  their  parallaxes,  yet  for  God  He  is  subject  to 
none  of  them." — Bishop  Andrews. 

i.  26,  27.  " Religious,  religion"  {dpfjo-Kos,  dprjo-Kda).  The  words  refer  to 
external  and  ritual  service.  This  is  the  old  sense  of  the  word  "  religion," 
as  in  Milton's 

"Gay  religions  full  of  pomp  and  gold." 

The  verse  means  that  the  true  ritualism  of  Christianity  is  active  service. 
"  Morality  itself  is  the  service  and  ceremonial  of  the  Christian  religion." 
— Coleridge. 

ii.  1.  "Of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  of  the  glory."  ChrLst  is  here  perhaps 
identified  with  the  Shechinah.     Comp.  John  xvii.  5. 

ii.  7.  "  The  holy  name  by  which  ye  were  called."  Lit.  "the  fair  name 
invoked  over  you."     The  name  of  Christ  given  in  baptism  (Cor.  iii.  23). 

iii.  1.  "  Be  not  many  masters."  This  condemns  the  itch  of  teaching, 
and  the  spirit  of  "other-peoples-bishops"  {uWoTinoema-KOTroi,  1  Pet. 
iv.  15). 

iii.  5.  "  Hoio  great  a  matter"  {fjXiKrjv  vXrjv,  perhaps  "  how  much  wood" 
or  "  how  great  a  forest "). 

iii.  6.  "  The  wheel  of  being"  (or  "of  nature,"  or  "  of  birth).  Some 
understand  by  this  "  the  orb  of  creation  ; "  but  it  is  a  phrase  of  very  un- 
certain meaning. 

iii.  10.  "  These  things  ought  not  (ov  xpv)  ■'"'  '^  ^^•"  The  word  ^p^  occurs 
here  alone  in  the  N.  T.  or  LXX.  The  word  for  "  ought "  elsewhere  is 
always  8(1,  which  expresses  moral  fitness. 

iii.  17.  "Without  partialUy"  {abiuKpiToij.  The  word  (which  occurs 
here  only)  may  mean  "without  variance:"  i.e.  true  wisdom  is  not 
Pharisaic  and  separatist ;  or  better  "  without  vacillation "  {hiaKpivop.ai 
"doubt"). 

V.  9.  "  Murmur  not  against  one  another,"  Lit.  Groan  not  (pfj  oTewffTe). 
"  Grudge  "  (A.V.)  once  meant  "  murmur."  (See  Prayer-Book  version  of 
Ps.  lix.  15.) 


Notes.  417 


NOTE    111.  ST.  JAMES. 

SPECIAL   PASSAGES. 

Besides  tlie  passages  specially  toucliecl  on  in  llie  previous  discourse  we 
may  notice 

i.  18.  "0/  His  oim  will  Be  brought  us  forth  by  the  word  of  truth, 
that  ive  should  be  a  Icind  of  firstfruits  of  His  creatures" 

This  verse  is  of  great  theological  importance. 

It  implies  the  need  of  a  new  life. 

It  repudiates  the  fatalism  of  the  Pharisees,  and  the  self-dependence  of 
the  Sadducees,  by  stating  that  God,  by  one  great  act  of  will  {^ov\t)6(\s), 
bestowed  this  new  life  upon  us,  and  was  Himself  the  cause  of  His  own 
mercy. 

It  tells  us  that  the  instrument  of  this  new  birth,  was  "the  word  of 
truth,"  i.e.  the  Gospel  (John  xvii.  17  ;  1  Pet.  L  23  ;  2  Tim.  ii.  13) 

It  implies  that  by  this  new  birth  we  are  as  a  dedicated  first-fruit  in 
Christ  (Eom.  viii.  19-22),  to  be  completed  by  the  offering  up  to  God  of 
all  His  creatures. 

iii.  17.  The  seven  fj[ualities  of  heavenly  ivisdom.  Seven  colours  of  the 
Divine  rainbow. 

iv.  5.  "  Or  think  ye  that  the  Scripture  saith  in  vain,  Doth  the  spirit 
which  He  made  to  dwell  in  us  long  to  envying?" 

Neither  this  rendering  (of  the  R.V.)  nor  that  of  the  A.V.  is 
intelligible. 

Many  other  renderings  are  suggested,  all  of  which  are  liable  to  objec- 
tion except  either 

"God  yearns  jealously  (tt/jo?  (jt^oVoi/,  adv.)  over  the  spirit  which  He 
placed  in  us  ; "  or, 

"  The  spirit  which  He  made  to  dwell  in  us  jealously  yearneth  over  us." 

The  quotation  is  unidentified.  It  is  either  a  terse  summary  of  several 
passages  (see  Gen.  vi.  3-5  ;  Num.  xi.  29  ;  Ezek.  xxiii.  25  ;  xxxvi.  27, 
&c.),  or  is  from  an  apocryphal  book  (see  Ecclus.  iv.  4 ;  Wisd.  vi.  12-23), 
or  from  some  book  no  longer  extant. 


NOTE  IV. 

IS   THE   EPISTLE    A   TRANSLATION  ? 

There  is  every  reason  to  believe,  from  the  freshness,  force,  and  special 
turns  of  the  Greek,  and  from  the  absence  of  all  trace  or  tradition  of  an 
Aramaic  original,  that  we  possess  the  Epistle  in  its  earliest  form.     If 

E   E 


418  The  Catholic  Epistles. 

there  be  any  Jink-iilty  in  tliu  yuppu^itioii  tliat  a  (Julilean  peasant  coiilJ 
have  expressed  himself  in  a  Greek  vocabulary  so  forcible,  varied,  and 
poetical,  it  is  easily  conceivable  that  he,  like  St.  Peter,^  may  have  availed 
himself  of  the  services  of  an  interpreter.  Prof.  Wordsworth  has,  indeed, 
suj^'gested  that  there  may  have  been  an  Aramaic  original,  because  the 
supposition  might  account  for  some  of  the  strange  variations  of  the 
Corbey  Latin  MS.  of  St.  James  (Codex  ff)  recently  edited  by  Mr. 
Belsheim  at  Christiania.'^  This  Latin  text,  which  is  entirely  different 
from  the  Vulgate,  furnishes  a  new  testimony  to  the  recognition  of  the 
Epistle  in  the  Western  Church  (though  it  did  not  obtain  early  recogni- 
tion, Jer.  De  Virr.  ill.  2,  and  is  not  quoted  by  Tertullian  or  Cyprian), 
The  divergences  of  this  Latin  text  exceed  the  ordinary  limits  of  varia- 
tion. Prof.  Wordsworth  refers  to  certain  peculiarities  of  tenses,  and  con- 
junctions, and  cjrtain  Hebrew  turns  ;  to  the  rendering  of  fifXfa^o/iei'os, 
(i.  14),  by  eliditur  (as  though  from  nddach)  ;  of  'marla  (v.  2),  by  ren  (as 
tliough  from  Kcliin ;  of  iii.  6,  by  "et  lingua  ignis  saecu Ziiniquitatis,"  for 
-\\  hich  he  accounts  by  the  fact  that  ish  "  fire  "  does  not  change  its  form 
in  the  construct  state  ;  of  ^irj  KaraKavxaaOe  by  quid  alupamlni  as  though 
tiihhaUelA  ("boast  yourselves")  had  been  confused  with  tithchallelu 
(wound  yourselves)  ;  and  so  on.  There  are,  however,  other  variations 
which  do  not  admit  of  these  somewhat  facile  and  seductive,  but  highly 
precarious  explanations  ;  and  Mr.  Wordsworth  admits  that  there  are 
counter  improbabilities.  The  suggestion  deserves  more  thorough  study, 
but  at  present  the  argument  in  favour  of  an  Aramaic  original  is  far 
from  strong. 

Of  the  authenticity  of  the  Epistle  there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt. 
It  was  early  accepted  by  the  Syrian  Church,  and  has  the  important  evi- 
dence of  the  Peshito  in  its  favour  ;  though  it  was  not  finally  accepted  by 
the  Greek  and  Latin  Churches  till  placed  in  the  Canon  by  the  Council 
of  Carthage,  a.d.  397.  On  the  other  hand  its  apparent  contradiction  of 
St.  Paul,  and  its  apparent  silence  as  to  the  essential  doctrines  of  Christi- 
anity, together  with  its  close  resemblance  to  what  we  should  have  ex- 
pected from  the  writer  and  his  surroundings,  are  strong  evidences  in  its 
favour.  Dogmatic  prejudices  which  might  have  been  an  obstacle  to  its 
acceptance  were  overpowered  by  the  proof  of  its  Apostolic  origin.  The 
fact  that  it  was  (probably)  known  to  St.  Peter^  more  than  outweighs 
any  other  deficiency  of  external  testimony. 

'  St.  Peter  is  said  to  have  used  the  services  both  of  St.  Jlaik  and  of  a 
Certain  Glaucias. 

^  A  paper  in  the  Guardian  signed  J.  "W.,  Jan,  9,  1884. 

^  See  1  Pi't.  i.  6-7,  24  ;  iv.  8  ;  v.  5-9  ;  us  compaveil  with  James  i.  2  4, 
10  ;  V.  20  ;  iv.  6,  7,  10. 


THE  FIRST  EPISTLE  OF  PETER. 

WRITTEN    ABOUT   A.D.    67. 

*'  Habet  haec  epistola  rh  apoSphv  conveniens  ingeuio  piincipisapostoloruni." 
— Okotius. 

"  Mirabilis  est  gravitas  et  alaciitas  Petrini  sermonis,   lectorem   suavissinie 
letinens. " — Bkngel. 


"When  once  thou  hast  turned  again,  stablish  thy  brethren. "^Luke  xxii. 
32. 

Each  book  of  Scripture,  as  we  read  it,  seems  to  possess  a 
supreme  claim  ujDon  our  love  and  admiration.  Each  book  has 
its  own  unique  lessons,  its  own  special  beauties.  The  First 
Epistle  of  St.  Peter  is  full  of  noble  thoughts  and  striking 
characteristics  which  we  will  now  endeavour  to  seize  and  to 
understand. 

The  genuineness  of  the  book  is  proved  ahke  by  external 
and  internal  evidence.^  Of  all  the  writings  of  the  New 
Testament  it  is  perhaps  the  most  anciently  and  the  most 
unanimously  attested.  The  internal  evidence  is  no  less 
strong.  The  Epistle  abounds  in  indications  of  genuineness 
which  no  forger  could  have  imitated.  In  clause  after  clause 
we  can  trace  the  subtle,  the  indirect  influence  of  events  in 
which  St.  Peter  took  a  prominent  part.  Without  mentioning, 
or  even  referring  to  those  events,  he  shows  that  they  have  left 
their  deep  traces  in  his  memory.     Thus  Christ  had  said  to 

1  It  is  attested  by  Papias,  Polycarp,  Trenaeus,  Clement  of  Alexandria, 
Origeu,  &c.,  and  by  the  second  Epistle,  which  is  (in  any  case)  a  very  ancient 
writing.  There  were  many  spurious  works  attributed  to  St.  Peter,  such  as 
the  "Gospel  according  to  Peter,"  used  by  the  Nazarenes  (Theodoret  Ilaer. 
Fab.  II.  2)  ;  the  "Preaching  of  Peter"  used  by  Judaisers  ;  the  "Apocalypse 
of  Peter,"  &c. 

E    E    2 


420  The  Catholic  Epistles. 

hiin,  "Thou  art  Petros,  and  on  this  rock  {iictra)  will  I  Luild 
my  Church ;  "  and  He  calls  Christ  "  a  rock,"  and  the  corner- 
stone of  a  spiritual  house  into  which  Christians  are  to  be 
built  as  living  stones.^  On  the  very  same  day  that  his  Lord 
had  alluded  to  him  as  a  man  of  rock,  He  had  called  him 
"  an  offence  "  (a-KavhaXov),  and  St.  Peter  here  unites  those  two 
words — "  a  rock  of  offence."  ^  In  directing  him  to  pay  the 
Temple  didrachm  Jesus  had  taught  him  that  nevertheless 
the  children  were  free  ;  and  here  St.  Peter  tells  Christians 
that  though  free  they  must  yet  submit  to  every  human 
ordinance.^  Our  Lord  had  told  him  to  forgive  his  brother 
seventy  times  seven,  and  here  he  says  that  "  Love  covers  a 
multitude  of  sins."  *  He  had  seen  his  Master,  in  an  acted 
parable  of  intense  humility,  gird  a  towel  round  Himself  and 
wash  His  disciples'  feet,  and  here  he  bids  Christians  "  to  tie  on 
humility  like  a  slave's  apron."  ^  From  what  our  Lord  had 
then  said  about  washing  he  has  learnt  to  look  on  "  baptism  " 
as  not  only  an  outward  cleansing,  but  "  the  inquiry  of  a  good 
conscience  seeking  after  God."  ^  He  speaks  of  Satan  as  an 
ever-watchful  adversary  {avTiZiKOf;),^  using  a  word  which 
Christ  had  used  in  the  Gospels.  He  had  been  one  of  the 
very  few  who  had  seen  the  derision  and  scourging  in  the 
halls  of  Caiaphas  and  Pilate,  and  he  alludes  both  to  Christ's 
silent  meekness,  and  to  the  weals  which  He  bore  for  our 
sakes.^  He  had  seen  the  dead  weight  of  the  Cross,  and  he 
speaks  of  it  as  "  the  tree."  ^  He  had  been  bidden  to  tend 
the  flock  of  God,  and  he  repeats  the  exhortation,  and  thinks 
of  Christ  as  the  chief  shephcrd.^'^     He  had  been  told  that 

'   1  ret.  ii.  4-^8.  -  irerpa  irKavSa\ov,  7  ;  Matt.  xvi.  18,  23. 

^  Matt.  xvii.  24-27  ;  1  Pet.  ii.  13-16.  *  Matt,  xviii.  22  ;  1  Pet,  iv.  8. 

«  John  xlii.  1-6  ;  1  Pot.  v.  5,  iyKOfidda-affde.  6  j  p^t.  iii.  21. 

^  Matt.  V.  25  ;  Luke  xviii.  3  ;  1  Pet.  v.  8. 

*  1  Pet.  ii.  20,  Ko\a(pi(6iiifi'oi  ;  23,  ovk  avTfXotS^pet  ;  24,  /ndXanrt. 

"  1  Pet.  ii.  24  ;  Acts  v.  30  ;  x.  39  (in  his  speeclies).  For  the  remarkahle 
analogy  between  St.  Peter's  spopchos  in  tlie  Acts  and  this  Epistle  see  Acts  iv. 
11  ;  ii.  32  30  ;  iii.  19-26;  (Tiie  rejected  cornerstone,  "witness,"  Prophecy, 
the  Resurrection,  &c.). 

"  1  Pet.  ii.  25,  v.  2.  To  these  we  may  add  1  Pet.  i.  13  ;  ivaCwaa/xtvot 
(Luke  xii.  35)  ;  i.  12  ;  iro^aK-yi//oi  (Luke  xxiv.  12),  ii.  15 ,  fifxovv  (Luke  iv.  35) ; 
cricdKios,  ii.  L'j  (Aitts  ii.  40). 


St.  Peter.  421 

when  he  had  himself  turned  to  Christ  he  must  strengthen 
{arrjpi^eci^)  his  brethren,  and  the  strengthening  of  his  brethren 
is  from  beginning  to  end  the  object  of  this  letter.^ 

Further  than  this,  we  see  in  this  Epistle  the  true  Peter, 
with  his  fervid  mind  and  jDicturesque  utterance — his  large 
charity  and  the  open-hearted  magnanimity  which  enabled  him 
to  embrace  new  truths.  The  character  of  St.  Peter  was  very 
early  distorted  by  ecclesiastical  tradition ;  but  the  Peter  of  this 
Epistle  is  neither  "  the  wretched  caricature  of  an  Apostle,  a 
thing  of  shreds  and  patches  which  struts  and  fumes  "  through 
the  Ebionite  romances  of  the  pseudo-Clement,  nor  the  haughty 
autocratic  Pope  who,  with  infallible  opinions  and  withering 
anathemas,  lords  it  over  God's  heritage,  and  claims  the  two 
swords  of  temporal  and  spiritual  power.  He  is  a  simple 
fellow-presbyter  of  those  to  whom  he  writes.  The  Bishop  of 
Bishops  barely  even  mentions  the  word  "  Bishop."  The  assumed 
head  of  all  ecclesiasticism  and  sacerdotalism  does  not  use  the 
word  "  priest,"  or  the  word  "  Church."  He  is  the  true  Peter,  but 
a  Peter  who  has  learnt  to  know  himself;  a  Peter  who,  though 
no  less  vigorous  than  of  old,  is  mild,  fatherly,  conciliatory;  a 
Peter  who  no  longer  repudiates  the  notion  that  his  Lord 
should  suffer,  but  knows  all  the  glory  and  the  blessedness 
which  that  suffering  involves;  a  Peter  who  oscillates  no 
longer  between  error  and  repentance,  but  who  is  humble  and 
immovable  in  his  Master's  strength  ;  a  Peter  who,  though  he 
is  a  chief  Apostle,  is  still  the  simple,  warm-hearted  fisherman 
of  the  Galilean  lake. 

One  of  the  noblest  features  of  his  Epistle  is  its  catholi- 
city ;  not  a  catholicity  which  is  exclusive,  self-asserting,  and 
damnatory,  but  which  is  gentle,  tolerant,  comprehensive. 
Hence  there  is  a  light  and  a  sweetness  in  his  tone  which 
show  how  thoroughly  he  had  learnt  to  follow  the  example  of 
his  Lord.  He  has  the  authoritative  dignity  of  St.  James,  but 
none  of  his  threatening  sternness.  He  has  the  swift  insight 
of  St.  Paul  into  the  heart  of  Christian  truths,  but  none  of  his 
»  1  Tct.  V.  12. 


422  The  Catholic  Epidlcs. 

dialectic  subtleties  or  controversial  passion.  He  lias  the 
serene  gentleness  of  St.  John,  but  never  breathes  that  accent 
of  uncompromising  severity  which  comes  from  regarding  all 
truths  in  their  purest  ideal,  and  yet  at  the  sa7ne  time  in  sharp 
contrast  with  their  antitheses. 

His  relationshij)  to  his  brother  Apostles  is  that  of  indebted- 
ness and  yet  of  independence.  St.  James  was  the  acknowledged 
head  of  the  Church  of  Jerusalem ;  the  sternest  and  narrowest 
Judaisers  claimed  the  sanction  of  his  authority.  St.  Paul 
was  the  acknowledged  head  of  the  Gentile  Church ;  the 
party  of  freedom  claimed  him  as  their  champion.  The 
views  of  the  saintly  Bishop  and  the  strong  Apostle  were 
thrust  into  violent  antagonism  by  their  resj)ective  partisans. 
St.  Peter  sided  with  neither  school.  As  the  Apostle  of  the 
Circumcision,  and  yet  as  the  first  who  had  admitted  uncir- 
cumcisod  Gentiles  into  full  fraternity,  he  had  sympathy  with 
the  views  of  both.  The  day  had  been  when,  in  the  "  con- 
sistent inconsistency  "  which  rose  from  his  natural  impulsive- 
ness, he  had  been  too  anxious  to  stand  well  both  Avith  Judaists 
and  Gentiles;  but  long  before  he  wrote  this  letter  he  had 
seen  that  the  unsystematic  but  practical  synthesis  of  com- 
plementary truths  lay  in  Christian  holiness  and  Christian 
love.  It  is  clear  from  his  letter — and  it  is  a  fact  of  the 
deepest  interest — that  he  had  read  and  was  even  familiar 
with  St.  Paul's  Ej)istles  to  the  Romans  and  Ephesians,  which 
he  would  have  been  sure  to  see  during  his  stay  in  Rome.^     It 

^  Compare  i.  VoX.  i,  5,  "  who  are  being  guided  by  the  power  of  God  through 
faith  for  a  salvation  ready  to  be  revealed  in  the  last  time,"  with  Gal.  iii.  23 
(iriaTiv  ,    .    .    icppovpovfJLiOa  .   ,    .    aTr(TKa\v(p6rivat). 

1  Pet.  ii.  6,  7,  with  Horn.  ix.  23,  where  two  quotations  from  Isaiah  are 
similarly  combined. 

1  Pet.   ii.    11,  with  Rom.  vii.  23  (the  same  metaphor  of  tea rn'v g  ■p&asions). 
,,      ii.  13, 14,    ,,         „     xiii.  1-4  (the  same  main  verbs  and  nouns). 
,,      iii.  9,         ,,         ,,     xii.  17. 
„     iii.  18,       ,,         ,,     vi.  9,  10. 
,,      iii.  21,        ,,         .,     vi.  4. 
,,     iv.  10,  11,   „         ,,     xii.  6,  7. 
,,     V.  1,  ,,         ,,     viii.  18. 

Also  compare  1  Pet.  i.  1,  3,  14,  with  Eph.  i.  3-8  ;  1  Pet.  ii.  18,  with  Eph. 
Ti.  5  ;  1  Pet.  iii.  1,  2,  and  v.  5,  with  Eph.  v.  22,  i.  20,  v.  21. 

All  those  references  are  by  way  of  reminiscence,  not  direct  quotation. 


Comprehensiveness.  423 

is  almost  equally  certain  that  he  had  read  and  been  influenced 
by  the  Epistle  of  St.  James,  a  copy  of  which  must  naturally 
have  been  lent  to  him  by  the  Church  of  Jerusalem.^  It 
would  have  been  easy  for  him,  as  for  others,  to  distort  the 
views  of  the  two  Aj)ostles  into  irreconcilable  opposition.  St. 
Peter,  on  the  contrary,  embraces  the  truths  which  were  the 
common  possessions  of  them  both.  He  is  at  once  a  Judaist 
and  a  Paulinist.  He  is  a  Judaist,  for  the  metaphors  and 
titles  which  he  applies  to  the  Christian  communi'ty  are  all 
derived  from  the  old  dispensation,^  and  yet  he  never  once 
mentions  the  Law,  not  even  as  a  law  of  liberty,  but  identifies 
all  law  with  the  will  of  God.^  He  is  a  Paulinist,  for  he 
adopts  the  fundamental  conception  of  the  Pauline  Gospel, 
but  he  entirely  strips  St.  Paul's  thoughts  and  expressions  of 
their  antithetical  character,  and  thereby  rescues  them  from 
their  polemical  appearance.  He  dwells  more  predominantly 
than  St.  James  on  Christian  verities,  more  continuously  than 
St.  Paul  on  moral  rules.  St,  Paul  devotes  all  his  skill  to 
prove  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith ;  St.  Peter,  while 
accepting  the  doctrine,  does  not  enter  upon  the  arguments, 
and  abandons  the  terminology.  St.  James,  while  he  enforces 
Christian  duties  with  magnificent  energy,  barely  alludes  to  a 
single  event  in  the  life  of  Christ;  St.  Peter,  while  no  less 
impressive  as  an  ethical  teacher,  makes  everything  hinge  on 
the  sufferings,  the  cross,  the  resurrection,  and  exaltation,  the 
descent  into  Hades,  and  the  second  return  of  his  Lord.* 
"  Christ,"  he  says,  "  suffered  on  our  behalf,  leaving  us  a  copy 
(uTToypa/jifibv)  that  we  should  follow  in  his  traces  (I'xveac)." 

^  Compare  1  Pet.  i.  6,  7,  24,  iv.  8,  v.  5,  9,  rospectivclj-,  witli  Jas.  i.  2  4, 
10,  V.  20,  iv.  6,  7,  10. 

■'  1  Pet.  i.  1  ;  ii.  9,  10. 

'  This  is  quite  in  accordance  with  his  speaking  of  the  Law  as  an  intolerable 
yoke  (Acts.  xv.  10). 

*  Cross,   i.   18,  19;  ii.   24  ;  iii.  18. 

Sufrerings,    ii.   21  ;  iii.    18  ;  iv.   1:5. 

ResuiTcction,  i.  3. 

Manifestation  (Apolmlupsis),  i.  7,  13  ;  (pavepccOevro!  tov  'Apx'Toi/ieVos,  v.  4. 

Descent  into  Hades,  iii.  19,  20  ;  iv.  t). 

Exaltation,  iii.  22  ;  iv.  11  ;  v.  10. 


424  The  Catholic  Epistles. 

And  yet  he  does  not  in  so  many  words,  nor  of  set  purpose, 
try  to  reconcile  the  separated  parties.  His  Epistle  has  no 
resemblance  to  a  tendency-writing.  His  catholicity,  his 
conciliatoriness,  are  due  to  the  natural  and  happy  tempera- 
ment which  acts  as  a  solvent  to  all  religious  asperity.  He  is 
not  writing  a  theological  disquisition.  He  had  no  intention 
to  compose  an  Eirenicon,  or  to  offer  himself  as  a  mediator 
between  contending  controversialists.  His  object  from 
jfirst  to  last  is  didactic  and  hortatory.  The  Church  was 
passing  through  one  of  its  earliest  storms  of  persecution. 
Under  the  stress  of  that  fiery  trial  it  was  above  all  things 
necessary  that  all  schools  of  Christians  should  close  their 
ranks  against  their  common  enemies.  They  needed  neither 
impassioned  arguments  nor  elaborate  syllogisms,  but  they 
needed  mainly  to  be  taught  the  blessed  lessons  of  resignation 
and  hope.  Accordingly  resignation  and  hope  are  the  keynotes 
of  this  Epistle.  As  his  brethren  in  Christ  stood  defenceless 
before  their  enemies,  he,  their  fellow-sufferer,  reminds  them 
of  One  who,  when  He  was  reviled,  reviled  not  again,  but 
intrusted  all  things  to  Him  who  judgeth  righteously.  Patient 
endurance  would  in  time  disarm  even  their  persecutors ; 
the  hope  of  the  future  crown  would  transmute  their  very 
sorrows  into  exultation.  They  might  be  happy  even  amid 
trials  if  they  sought  their  happiness  in  innocence  and  in 
hope. 

In  accordance  with  these  objects  he  views  even  theological 
truths  primarily  in  their  moral  aspect.  He  often  speaks  of 
redemption ;  but  without  entering  into  transcendent  mysteries 
speaks  of  it  chiefly  as  a  deliverance  from  sin  and  worldliness. 
He  often  speaks  of  faith,  but  with  him  it  is  not  mystic 
oneness  with  Christ,  but  the  conviction  of  unseen  realities. 
Good  works  are  so  prominent  in  his  pages  that  "  to  do  good  " 
(dyaOoTToceiv)  occurs  no  less  than  nine  times  in  his  Epistle, 
yet  it  would  be  impossible  to  deduce  from  his  pages  the 
technical  notion  of  "justification"  either  by  faith  or  by  works. 
Even  when  he  touches  on  baptism  his  thoughts  are  mainly 


Originality.  425 

fixed  not  on  its  sacramental  aspects  but  on  tlie  vow  by  which     1  peter. 
an  U2:)right  conscience  binds  itself  to  God. 

It  must  not  however  be  supposed  that  St.  Peter  is  only  a 
moral  writer,  and  that  he  merely  echoes  the  thoughts  and 
phrases  of  others.  Nothing  is  less  justified  than  the  sneer 
that  he  is  "  second-hand  and  commonplace."  The  vivid  force 
of  many  of  his  expressions  would  alone  defend  him  from  this 
charge,  and,  besides  this,  he  has  several  conceptions  which  are 
peculiarly  his  own.  Thus  he  has  the  striking  remark  that 
"  the  angels  desire  to  stoop  down  and  look  "  into  the  scheme 
of  redemption  (i.  12).  He  alone  speaks  of  Christ  as  the 
Chief  Shepherd  in  that  character  in  which  the  early  Chris- 
tians loved  to  represent  Him  on  the  walls  of  the  catacombs 
(v.  4).  He  alone  points  to  Christ's  sufferings  as  being  not 
only  for  our  deliverance  but  also  for  our  example  (ii.  21). 
From  him  we  learn  the  beautiful  expression  "  strangers  and 
pilgrims"  (ii.  11),  the  duty  of  silencing  attacks  by  silent 
blamelessness  (ii.  12,  iii.  16),  and  the  predominant  conception 
of  Christian  hope. 

And  there  is  one  doctrine  of  capital  importance  for  Avhich 
St.  Peter  is  ovir  chief  authority,  and  which  well  accords  with 
his  large  and  hopeful  heart.  It  is  the  doctrine  of  Christ's  ^ 
descent  into  Hades  ;  the  doctrine  of  the  Gospel  to  the  dead. 
In  his  statement  of  that  doctrine  St.  Peter  is  thoroughly 
original,  and  lays  down  tlie  glorious  truth  that  men  "  may  be 
judged  according  to  men  in  the  flesh,  but  may  live  according 
to  God  in  the  spirit."  To  the  Apostle,  on  whose  agency  and 
confession,  as  on  a  rock,  Christ  built  His  Church — to  the 
Apostle  who  first  admitted  Gentiles  as  Gentiles  into  the  full 
freedom  of  the  fold — was  further  vouchsafed  the  high  honour 
of  revealing  clearly  to  us  that  Christ  "  went  also  and  preached 
to  the  spirits  in  prison."  By  thus  telling  us  of  a  Gospel  to 
the  dead — by  thus  extending  the  all-embracing  blessedness 
of  Christ's  atoning  work  even  to  dead  men  who  once  were 
disobedient,  St.  Peter  enlarged  the  circle  of  life  and  light, 
and  flung  one  gleaming  ray  from  the  Sun  of  Righteousness 


426  The  Catholic  Epistles. 

1  I'ETER.  to  the  faitlicst  circumference  of  tliat  illimitable  circle  which 
includes  the  si^irits  of  men  beyond  the  grave. 

And  thus  in  all  respects  the  Gosiael  of  St.  Peter  is  the 
Gospel  of  an  eternal  hope — that  is,  of  a  hope  which  transcends 
the  limits  of  time,  and  embraces  those  spiritual  conditions 
of  man's  relationship  to  God  which  in  this  narrow  life  we  can 
neither  see,  nor  measure,  nor  fully  apprehend. 

St.  Peter  wrote  to  console,  to  testify,  to  exhort.  We  do 
not  know  the  circumstances  under  which  he  went  to  Rome, 
but  he  may  either  have  been  arrested  in  the  provinces,  or 
may  have  gone  spontaneously  to  the  great  city  to  console  the 
Christians  in  their  hour  of  peril.  There  he  was  seized,  and 
there  he  suffered  martyrdom.  This  Epistle  was  written 
towards  the  close  of  his  life.  That  it  was  written  in  Rome, 
which  he  calls  by  its  mystic  name  of  Babylon,  is  all  but 
certain ;  and  this  agrees  with  the  mention  of  Mark  as  his 
companion,  for  St.  Mark  had  been  summoned  to  Rome  by 
the  wish  of  St.  Paul,  and  all  early  tradition  regards  the  two 
Apostles  as  having  suffered  in  that  city,  and  at  about  the 
same  time. 

The  intensest  fury  of  the  Neronian  persecution  did  not 
last  long.  The  suspicions  of  the  people  were  not  only 
satiated  by  the  butchery  of  a  "  huge  multitude  "  of  Christian 
victims,  but  their  sympathies  had  even  been  to  some  small 
extent  enlisted  on  behalf  of  the  sufferers.  But  ^\hen  the 
executioners  had  been  sated  with  blood,  the  after-throes  of 
the  persecution  still  continued,  and  it  is  perfectly  idle  to 
suppose  that  they  could  have  been  confined  to  the  capital. 
They  had  the  effect  of  exacerbating  the  whole  heathen  popu- 
lation against  a  sect  which  long  before  had  everywhere  been 
spoken  against.  Hence  even  in  the  provinces,  to  which 
St.  Peter  addresses  his  letter,  Christians  were  exposed  to 
threats,  insults,  and  unjust  prosecutions.  The  very  name  of 
"  Christian "  became  a  synonym  for  malefactor,  and  even 
persons  of  refinement  and  literary  culture,  blinded  by  their 
own  fatal  disdain,  looked  down  upon   the  faith   as  a  '  deadly  ' 


Outline  of  Topics.  4:21 

and  '  execrable  '  superstition.  Such  were  the  circumstances  in 
which  the  Apostle  who  had  been  so  close  an  eye-witness  of 
the  sufferings  of  Christ  and  the  glory  which  followed,  wrote 
to  these  persecuted  communities  a  letter  of  which  the  cen- 
tral message  is,  Submit  and  endure  in  cheerful  innocence, 
for  you  are  heirs  of  salvation. 

The  letter,  which  is  addressed  both  to  Jews  and  Gentiles  ^ 
falls  into  two  great  divisions,  of  which  the  former  is  general 
and  doctrinal,  the  second  more  special  and  practical.  In  the 
lirst  division  (i.  1 — ii.  10)  he  speaks  chiefly  of  the  blessings 
of  Christians ;  in  the  second  division  (ii.  11 — v.  14)  of  the 
duties  of  Christians. 

I.  After  the  greeting  (1,  2)  follows  ai'ichand  comprehensive 
thanksgiving,  in  which  he  shows  that  salvation  embraces 
alike  the  past,  the  present,  and  the  future : — the  future,  in 
that  it  is  a  living  hope  of  an  unfading  inheritance  (3 — 5) ;  the 
present  in  that  it  is  a  source  of  exultation,  love,  and  faith, 
even  in  the  midst  of  trials  and  sufferings  (6 — 9) ;  the 
past  in  that  it  was  the  ultimate  end  of  all  prof)hecy 
(10—12). 

They  ought  then  to  gird  up  the  loins  of  their  minds,  to 

abandon  the  past,  to  hope  for  the  future,  to  obey  in  the  present 

(13,  14),  because  of  God's  holiness  and  the  fear  they  owe  to 

Him   (15 — 17),  and  the  price  of  their  redemption,  so  that 

their  faith  is  also  hope  towards  God   (18 — 21).      And  this 

purification  of  the  soul  by  hope  should  lead  naturally  to  love 

and  obedience,  as  consequences  of  the  new  birth  by  means 

of  the  living  word  of  God — to  a  life  not  transient  but  eternal 

(22 — 25),     In  accordance  with  this  new  birth  they  should,  as 

new-born  babes,  desire  the  spiritual  and  unadulterated  milk, 

and  in  lives  free  from  all  stain  of  malice  and  hatred  realise 

the  preciousness  of  their  holy  unity  as  stones  in  one  spiritual 

temple   built  on  the  corner-stone  of  Christ,  and    united  to 

Him  in  living  union  (ii.  1 — 11). 

^  The  address  to  "  the  elect  sojourners  of  the  dispersion  "  shows  that  he 
\v,as  addressing  Jews  as  well  as  Gentiles  ;  Gentile  readers  are  distinctly  implied 
in  ii.  9,  10;  iv.  3;  i.  14,  18. 


428  The  CathoUc  Epistles. 

II.  When  he  lias  thus  laid  upon  the  great  truths  of  Christi- 
anity the  foundation  of  hope  and  comfort  and  holiness,  he 
exhorts  them  to  live  pure  and  blameless  lives  in  the  midst  of 
their  heathen  persecutors  (ii.  11,  12),  Then  he  proceeds  to 
urge  on  them  due  submission,  in  all  things  lawful,  to  the  civil 
government  (ii.  13 — iii.  7),  in  order  that,  whether  as  freemen 
(16,  17),  or  as  servants  (18 — 20),  or  as  women  (iii.  1 — 6),  or 
as  men  (iii.  7)  they  may  endure  cruelty  and  injustice  by 
specially  considering  the  example  of  Christ's  meek  sufferings 
(ii.  21—25). 

III.  Passing  to  a  third  series  of  exhortations  (iii.  8 — iv.  19) 
he  urges  them  to  unity  (8),  meek  endurance  (9),  the  govern- 
ment of  the  tongue  (10),  and  a  sj)irit  of  general  peacefulness 
(11),  because  our  case  is  in  the  hands  of  God,  who  knows 
all  things,  and  because  there  is  a  beatitude  in  unjust 
persecution  (12 — 17).  These  lessons  are  once  more  enforced 
by  the  example  of  Christ,  who  not  only  died,  the  just  for  the 
unjust,  but  even  descended  to  Hades  to  preach  to  the  sj^irits 
of  them  Avho  were  disobedient  in  the  days  of  Noah.  Then 
the  few  were  saved  through  water  as  now  the  few  are  saved 
by  lives  in  accordance  with  their  baptismal  vows ;  but 
even  to  those  who  perished  Christ  made  His  Gospel  known 
(18—22). 

They  should  therefore  put  on  as  armour  the  resolve  of 
Christ,  and  make  suffering  the  death-blow  of  past  concu- 
piscence, remembering  Him  who  shall  judge  both  the  quick 
and  dead,  and  who  Himself  preached  His  Gospel  to  the 
dead  (iv.  1 — 14).  The  end  of  all  things  was  at  hand,  and 
therefore  their  attitude  should  be  one  of  sobriety,  watch- 
fulness, mutual  and  active  love,  and  the  right  stewardship 
of  God's  diverse  gifts.  Let  them  feel  at  home  in  the  con- 
flagration (TTvpcoaei)  which  was  burning  among  them,  for  to 
suffer  unjustly  as  a  Christian  is  to  share  in  a  beatitude.  To 
do  well,  and  to  commit  their  cause  to  God,  was  to  rejoice  in 
sharing  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  and  to  exult  in  the  glory 
wliieh  should  follow  (iv.  10—19). 


Hope  and  Consolation.  429 

IV.  He  then  enters  on  a  fourth  series  of  more  siDecial  i  i'ktei 
exhortations  to  elders  (v.  1 — 4),  and  to  younger  and  lay 
members  of  the  Clmrch  (v.  5 — 9),  pressing  on  both  classes 
the  duties  of  humility,  submission,  and  watchful  faithfulness. 
He  ends  with  a  doxology  (10,  11),  a  few  personal  salutations, 
and  a  blessing  (12 — 14). 

Such  are  the  characteristics,  and  such  the  general  tenor,  of 
this  beautiful  Epistle  of  hope  and  consolation.  With  lofty 
and  happy  sweetness  the  Apostle  views  the  truths  of  Chris- 
tianity in  their  comprehensive  unity.  He  applies  them  to 
inspire  the  courage  and  direct  the  efforts  of  suffering 
Christians  by  pointing  them  to  tlie  examjale  of  Christ's 
humility  and  endurance,  and  he  bids  them  fix  their  steady 
gaze  on  that  exaltation  of  His  glory  which  should  be  to  them 
the  sure  j^ledge  of  eternal  happiness  when  the  brief  trials  of 
life  were  past. 


430  The  Catholic  Epistles. 


NOTE  I. 

The  keynotes  of  the  Epistle  are  : — 

1.  Hope,  founded  on  the  resurrection  of  Christ;  a  living,  life-giving 

hope  of  which    the  resurrection  is  "not   only  the  exemplar 

but  the  efficient  cause." 
a.  "  Who  begat  us  again  to  a  living  hope,^''  i.  4. 
/3.  "  Set  your  hope  perfectly  on  the  grace  that  is  being  brought  to 

you  in  the  revelation  of  Jesus  Christ,"  i  13. 
y.  "  So  that  your  faith  is  also  hope  towards  God,"  i.  21. 
d.  "  To  him  that  asketh  us  concerning  the  hope  that  is  in  us," 

iii  15. 
See  the  topic  enlarged  on  in  v.  1,  4,  6,  10, 

2.  Faith,  in  St.  Peter's  point  of  view,  is  nearly  allied  to  hope,  i.  5,  7,  9, 

21  ;  V.  9. 

3.  Submissive  Resignation  in  accordance  with  Christ's  example. 

a.  "  Sithmit  yourselves  to  every  human  ordinance  for  the   Lord's 

.sake,"  ii.  13. 
fi.  "  Servants,  submit  yourselves,^'  ii.  18. 
y.  "Likewise,  ye  wives,  submitting  yourselves'^  in.   1,5.     Compare 

ii.  13-25  ;  iii.  18-iv.  1. 

4.  Well-doing  {aya6oiToua),  ii.  12,  14,  15,  20;  iii.  6,  11,  17  ;  iv.  19. 

5.  Obedience  (vnaKoi]),  i.  2,  22  ;  "  as  children  of  obedience,"  i.  14. 
Salvation,  i.  5,  9,  10  ;  ii.  2. 


NOTE  II. 

SPECIAL  WORDS   IN   ST.    PETER. 

"  To  the  sojourners  of  the  dispersion"  {7rap(ni8i]fiois  Biaanopas),  i.  1  ; 
comp.  ii.  11.  Both  words  are  Jewish,  and  technically  "so- 
journers" corresponds  to  T'oshahim,  the  dispersion  to  Galootha. 
Even  in  writing  to  Churches  which  were  largely  Gentile,  St. 
Peter  writes  with  the  feelings  and  habits  of  a  Jew. 

"  To  sprinl-ling  of  blood"  i.  2  {pavria-fiov),  comp.  Heb.  xii.  4,  and 
Ex.  xxiv.  8. 

"  Who  hath  begotten  us  again"  (avaytuffiaas),  i.  3.  The  word  is 
peculiar  to  St.  Peter  ;  but  comp.  Jas.  i.  18,  iii.  3  ;  and  Tit  iii. 
5  ;  Eph.  ii.  10. 


Sjieclal  Words.  431 

4.  "  That  fadelh   not   amuj "    {anxapavrov),   i.   4  ;   comp.   aiiapilvTivov      1  PETER. 

"amaranthine,"  v.  4  (Wisd.  vi.  12). 

5.  "  Impartially  "  (dnpoa-aiTToXrjnTai),  i.  17  ;  comp.  Acts  x.  34. 

6.  '^  Spiritual,  tinadulterat^^d  viilk"  {\oyiKov  aBoXov  yd\a),  ii.  2.    Milk 

even  in  those  days  was  fre(i[uently  adulterated  with  gypsum,  as 
is  mentioned  by  Irenaeus. 

7.  "The  praises"  or  "excellences"  (dperas,  Is.  xliii.  20,  LXX.). 

8.  "  An  example"  (vnoypappw),  ii.  21.  A  copy  over  which  other  words 

are  to  he  written. 

9.  "Those  who  revile"  (enrjpfdCovTes),  iii.  1(5. 

10.  The  slough  of  dissoluteness  {dvdxva->i>),  iv,  4. 

11.  Busyhodij    {dWorpioeiTLa-KOTros,    "  other-people's-bishop"),    iv.    15. 

The  only  word  like  it  is  dWoTpioTrpayfxocn'vr],  ^^meddlesomeness," 
in  Plato.  Hilgenfeld  (Einleit.  p.  630)  and  others  take  it  to 
mean  "informer"  {(lelator). 

12.  '■'■Fiery  trial"  {nvpaiais),  iv.  12.     The  word  occurs  in  the  LXX.  of 

Prov.  xxvii.  21,  for  "  furnace."  St.  Peter  might  have  possibly 
thought  of  the  great  fire  of  Rome  which  had  been  the  cause 
of  the  first  great  persecution, 

13.  "  Gird  yourselves  with  humility,"  v.  5.     The  word  eyKop^aaaa-fie, 

is  derived  from  KofilSpapa,  an  apron  worn  by  slaves,  and  tied  on 
by  strings  {Kvp.(3oi).  The  word  is  a  much  more  picturesque  form 
of  "put  on"  (eudva-aa-df.  Col.  iii.  12),  and  is  an  unconscious 
reminiscence  of  the  scene  recorded  in  John  xiii. 

14.  "  Neither  as  lording  it  over  your  allotted  charge,"  v,  3  (t&v  Kk^pcov). 

From  this  word  clerus  is  derived  "  clergy "  ;  here  however  oi 
KArjpoi  means  the  same  as  "  yoiir  flock  "  {noip.viov).  The  Chiirch, 
like  the  Holy  Land,  was  divided  "by  allotments"  (Jos.  xiv.  2). 


NOTE  III. 

SPECIAL   PASSAGES   IN   THE   EPISTLE. 

(a.)  ii.  3.  "  If  j^e  tasted  that  <Ae  Lorrf  is  grraaous."  It  is  not  impossible 
that  there  may  be  in  these  words  a  latent  paronomasia.  "  The 
Lord,"  stands  for  Christ,  and  Christos  was  constantly  confused 
both  in  pronunciation  and  meaning,  by  Gentiles,  with  Chrestos, 
"  kind."  The  words  would  then  mean  "  if  ye  learnt  by  personal 
experience  that  He  whom  you  call  Chrestos  is  indeed  what  that 
word  implies,  '  gracious.' " 

(/3.)  ii.  16.  (i.)  As  free, 

(ii.)  And  yet  not  using  your  freedom  as  a  veil  of  baseness, 
(iii.)  But  by  love  be  slaves  to  one  another. 


432  The  Catholic  Epistles. 

The  verse  isnu  exact  pamlk'l  to  and  ubviuus  reininiscence  of 
Gal.  V.  13  :— 

(1)  Ye  were  called  fur  freedom, 

(2)  Only  not  freedom  as  a  handle  for  the  flesh, 

(3)  But  as  slaves  of  God. 

St.  Peter  shows  a  generous  nobleness  in  tlius  referring  to  an 
Epistle  in  which  his  own  conduct  is  so  strongly  condemned. 
There  is  another  marked  reference  to  Galatians  (ii.  19,  20),  and 
tliat  to  a  passage  addressed  to  himself  at  a  moment  of  deep 
liumiliation,  in  1  Pet.  ii.  24. 

(y.)  ii.  24.  "  Who  Himself,  in  His  own  bod//,  bore  up  our  sins  to  the  tree." 
The  word  "  bore  up  "  (durjveyKev)  cannot  here  mean  "  offered 
up,"  as  in  Heb.  ix.  28  ;  Jas.  ii.  21  ;  for  "sins"  cannot  be  a 
sacrifice.  The  meaning  is  that  Christ  earned  up  (Mark  ix.  2  ; 
Luke  xxiv.  51),  our  sins  with  Him  to  the  Cross,  and  as  it  Avere 
slew  them  there  by  nailing  them  to  it.  "Tree"  for  Cross, 
Deut.  xxi.  23  ;  Gal.  iii.  13. 

(5.)  iii.  4.  "  The  hidden  man  of  the  heart."  Comp.  Rom.  ii.  29,  vii, 
22  ;  2  Cor.  iv.  16  ;  Eph.  iii.  16  ;  though  St.  Paul  uses  the  word 
not  of  "the  Christ  within  us,"  Gal.  iv.  19,  but  of  the 
inmost  soul. 

(e.)  iii.  18-20  ;  iv.  6.     The  preaching  of  the  Gospel  to  the  dead. 

(f.)  iii.  21,  "which  also,  in  the  antitype,  doth  now  save  you,  even 
baptism, — not  the  putting  away  of  the  filth  of  the  flesh,  hut  the 
interrogation  of  a  good  conscience  toicards  God  by  the  resur- 
rection of  Jesus  Christ."  ^Avt'ltvttov  means  "  baptism  as  an 
antitype  of  the  deluge,"  and  may  be  paraphrased  as  in  the  R.  V. 
by  '■'■after  a  true  likeness."  The  meaning  of  inepccrrjfia,  and  of 
tlie  parenthetic  clause,  is  very  uncertain  ;  the  word  has  been  ex- 
plained (1)  "pledge"  or  "vow"  ;  or  (2)  "question and  answer," 
"animanon  laxationese(^re.s;po?isionesancitur."  Tert.  DeResurr. 
48  ;  or  (3)  "  the  inquiry  after  God  of  a  good  conscience  "  ;  or  (4) 
"  the  request  to  God  for  a  good  conscience."  Tlie  latter  seems  a 
possible  view  (comp.  2  Kings  xi.  7  ;  Dan.  iv.  14,  LXX.).  "The 
word  intends  the  whole  correspondence  of  the  conscience  with 
God." — Leighton. 

{ij .)  iv.  16.  "  But  if  a  man  suffer  as  a  Christian  let  him  not  be  ashamed." 
Tlie  word  "  Christian  "  had  not  yet  been  adopted  by  the  Church, 
but  was  only  used  by  enemies  or  Gentiles  (Acts  xi.  26  ;  xxvi. 
28).  It  was  originally  a  name  of  scorn,  and  began  from  that 
time  forward  to  be  a  criminal  designation.  See  Plin.  Ep.  x. 
97;  Tac.  Ann.  xv.  44;  Suet.  Ner.  16;  comp.  Basilides  ap. 
Clem.  Ak'X.  Strom,  iv.  12  ;  Just.  Mart.  Apol.  ii.  2.  nijre 
fjioi)(6v  K.r.X.  fii']T€  dTrXaJs  dbiKrjixu  ti  Tvpa^avra  (Xeyx^opfvov,  ofofxaTi 
bi  XpicTTiavov  npoacovvfiiav  top  av6paiTT0v  tovtov  fKoXaao). 


Babylon.  433 

(i.)  V.  13.  "  The  co-elect  in  Babylon  salutcth  you.'"  Babylon  is  tlie  j  peter. 
common  cryptograpli  used  by  the  Jews  and  Cliristiaus  of  this 
epoch  for  Rome  (Rev.  xiv.  8,  &c.;  Orac.  Sibyll.  v.  143,  &c.), 
just  as  in  the  Talmud  Rome  is  called  Babylon  and  Edom. 
The  fathers  are  unanimous  on  this  point.^  The  notion  that 
1)  avveKkiKTT}  (  =  your  sister  Church)  means  "  Peter's  wi/e," '^  or 
tliat  an  obscure  Galilean  woman  would  send  a  greeting  to  the 
Churches  of  Asia,  is  out  of  the  question.  Tliere  is  not  the 
faintest  tradition  that  St.  Peter  had  ever  visited  Babylon  ;  and 
Mark,  if  the  Evangelist  be  meant  by  "  ]\Iarcus  my  son,"  was  at  /(/  A^ 
this  time  at  Rome  (2  Tim.  iv.  11).  " 

(k.)  v.  12.  "By  Silvanus,  our  faithful  brother,  as  I  esteem  him."  There 
is  nothing  to  show  whether  the  Silvanus  thus  incidentally  men- 
tioned was  or  was  not  the  Silas  of  the  Acts.  The  words  ws 
Xoyi^oficii,  "  as  I  account  him,"  are  due  to  some  under-current  of 
thought.  Some  imagine  that  Silvanus  was  the  amanuensis,  and 
that  he  modestly  added  those  two  words. 

1  Euseb.  H.K  ii.  15,  §  2  ;  Jer.  De  Virr.  illustr.  8 ;  Hippolytus,  De 
Christo  ct  AnUchristo,  36. 

2  Peter  was  married,  and  tliere  is  a  touching  legend  that  in  passing  his  wife 
on  the  road  to  his  martyrdom  he  bade  her  "remember  the  Lord  "  (MifMvrjao 
w  oi/TTj  Tov  Kvpiov).     Clem.  Alex.  Strom,  vii.  11,  §  63. 


F  F 


THE  EPISTLE  TO  THE  HEBREWS 

WIUTTEN     BY    AN     UNKNOWN     AUTHOR,     PERHAPS     APOLLOS, 
ABOUT  A.D.   G8. 


"Nihil  interesse  cujus  sit,  dum  ecclesiastici  viri  sit,  et  quotidie  ecclesianim 
lectione  celebretur." — Jer.  Ep.  129,  ad  Dardanium. 

"  Auctor  Epistolae  ad    Hebraeos,   quisquis  est,   sive  Paulus,   sive,  ut  ego 
arbitror,  Apollo." — Lutheu,  ad  Gen.  xlviii.  20. 

"Das  ist  eine  starke,  miiclitige,  hohe  Epistel." — Luther. 

"  Of  this  ye  see  that  the  epistle  ought  no  more  to  be  refused  for  a  holy, 
godly,  and  catholic  epistle  than  the  other  authentic  scriptui-es." — Tyndale. 


"  He  is  the  mediator  of  a  better  covenant,  which  hath  been  enacted  upon 
better  promises." — Heb.  viii.  6. 

The  E^sistle  to  the  Hebrews,  apait  from  those  deep  and 
sacred  lessons  which,  like  every  book  of  Scripture,  it  addresses 
to  our  souls,  is  interesting  and  precious  on  many  grounds  for 
the  history  of  the  Christian  Church.  It  is  (1)  the  only  work 
in  the  Now  Testament  canon  by  an  independent  follower  of 
the  school  of  St.  Paul ;  it  is  (2)  the  only  early  specimen  of 
Alexandrian  Christianity ;  it  is  (3)  a  profound  and  original 
attempt  to  co-ordinate  the  relations  between  the  new  and  old 
dispensation,  between  the  Law  which  was  given  by  Moses  and 
the  grace  and  truth  which  came  by  Jesus  Christ. 

(1)  That  it  was  not  written  by  St.  Paul  himself,  and  not 
by  any  Apostle  (ii.  3),  is  a  conclusion  supported  by  an  over- 
whelming mass  alike  of  external  and  internal  evidence,  and 
that  evidence  has  been  so  often  stated,  and  remains  so  entirely 


Not  by  St.  Paul.  435 

untouched  by  counter  arguments,  that  it  is  now  the  all  but 
universal  opinion  of  critics  and  theologians.^  Without  again 
entering  on  the  controversy,  it  must  suffice  to  say  that,  as  has 
been  abundantly  shown,  the  writer  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews  cites  differently  from  St.  Paul ;  he  writes  differently  ; 
he  thinks  differently ;  he  argues  differently ;  he  quotes  from  a 
different  edition  of  the  Septuagint ;  ^  he  constructs  and  con- 
nects his  sentences  differently ;  he  builds  up  his  paragraphs  on 
a  wholly  different  model.  His  Greek  is  different ;  his  style 
different ;  many  of  his  phrases  different ;  ^  his  line  of  reasoning 
wholly  different ;  his  tone  of  thought  in  many  respects  different. 
St.  Paul  is  rugged  and  impetuous,  this  writer  is  elaborately  and 
faultlessly  rhetorical.  He  never  abandons  his  calm  and 
sonorous  euphony,  and  he  delights  in  amplitude  and  rotundity 
of  expression.  Even  his  theology,  though  fundamentally  the 
same  as  St.  Paul's,  as  was  that  of  all  Christians,  is  presented  in 
different  terminology  and  under  different  aspects.*  St.  Paul 
was  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  and  spent  the  greater  part  of 
his  life  in  establishing  their  j)rivileges  ;  this  writer  ignores  the 
Gentiles  almost  as  completely  as  if  there  had  been  no  such 
thing  as  a  Pagan  in  the  world.  St.  Paul  had  bent  the  whole 
efforts  of  his  dialectics  to  prove  the  nullity  of  the  Law,  and 
his  contrast  between  the  Law  and  the  Gospel  is  that  between 
command  and  promise,  between  sin  and  mercy,  between  the 
threat  of  inevitable  death  and  the  gift  of  eternal  life.  This 
writer  treats  of  the  contrast  as  one  solely  between  type 
and  reality.  One  of  St.  Paul's  main  subjects  had  been 
justification  by  faith  ;  this  writer  never  once  uses  either  faith 
or  righteousness  in  the  specifically  Pauline  senses.  St.  Paul,  in 
dwelling  on  the  redemptive  work  of  Christ,  regards  Him  chiefly 


^  "Quis  porro  earn  composiierit  non  magnopere  curandum  est,  sed  ipsa 
dicendi  ratio  ct  stylus  alium  esse  quam  Paulum  satis  testantur." — Calvin. 

2  The  Vatican,  not  the  Alexandrian,  as  Bleek  proves,  Hebr.  338. 

3  These  are  pointed  ont  by  Bleek,  Tholuck,  &c.  See  Early  Days  of 
Christianity,  i.  297. 

*  St.  Paul  uses  "  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord,"  or  "our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  sixty- 
eight  times  ;  this  writer  not  once,  and  only  once  even  "  our  Lord  Jesus."  He 
speaks  of  "Jesus,"  "Christ,"  or  "the  Lord." 

F   F    2 


436  The  Catholic  Epistles. 

as  the  sacrificial  victim  ;  this  writer  maiuly  as  the  sacrificing 
Priest.  The  Epistle  has  therefore  a  special  interest  as  a 
representation  of  Paul's  Gospel  by  one  who  had  with  perfect 
independence  embraced  his  general  views.^ 

(2)  It  is  our  only  canonical  specimen  of  Alexandrian 
Christianity. 

Owing  to  the  revivifying  contact  of  Judaism  Avith  Greek 
philosophy  and  culture,  there  had  grown  up  at  Alexandria 
a  school  of  liberal  thinkei-s,  represented  by  such  writers  as 
Aristobulus,  the  translators  of  the  Septuagint,  the  author  of 
the  Book  of  Wisdom,  and  above  all  by  Philo,  who,  while  they 
continued  to  be  faithful  Jews,  found  room  in  their  theology 
for  thoughts  which  they  had  not  derived  from  Moses  or  from 
the  Old  Testament.  By  using  the  potent  instrument  of 
allegory  they  were  able  to  make  Moses  express  the  thoughts 
of  Plato  and  to  turn  a  religious  philosophy  into  something 
which  they  considered  to  be  a  philosophic  religion.  Their 
method  was  the  source  of  many  absurdities,  and  much  of  their 
system  of  interpretation  was  fantastic  and  valueless,  but  they 
were  led  into  some  thoughts  which  in  the  providence  of  God 
became  part  of  the  preparation  for  Christianity.  Among 
these  was  the  doctrine  of  the  Logos  or  Divine  Word,  and  the 
general  conception  that  a  wider  and  less  exclusive  dispensa- 
tion was  at  hand.  St.  Paul  and  St.  John  w^ere  probably 
acquainted,  if  not  with  the  actual  writings  of  Philo,  at  least 
with  some  of  his  conceptions.  The  author  of  the  Epistle  to 
the  Hebrews  was  certainly  familiar  with  some  of  his  numerous 
treatises,  and  in  not  a  few  passages  has  been  directly  influenced 
alike  by  his  views  and  his  expressions.^     He  is  one  of  the 

^  The  Epistle  has  rcsoniLlances  to  1  Tlicss.  i.  3  ;  Rom.  xi.  36,  xii.  18,  19, 
XV.  23  ;  2  Cor.  iv.  2,  &c.  He  dwells  ou  three  of  St.  Paul's  groat  to2)ics, 
Judaism  and  Christianity,  Faith,  Redemption,  but  handles  each  of  them  in 
quite  a  dilferent  way  ;  on  the  fourth  great  topic  of  St.  Paul,  the  Universality 
of  the  Gospel,  lie  does  not  even  touch. 

^  T\ve7ity-two  passages  may  be  quoted  in  which  the  writer  resembles  Philo, 
(see  Credncr,  Bleek,  Hilgenfeld,  &c.),  and  as  regards  some  of  these  it  is  simply 
impossible  that  the  resemblance  could  be  accidental.  He  also  has  close 
resemblances  to  the  Book  of  Wisdom  (Wisd.  vii.  25,  26  ;  xviii.  22,  &c.),  and 
many  words  in  common  witii  it. 


Alexandrian  Christianity.  437 

links  between  the  Jewish  and  Christian  schools  of  Alexandria. 
The  Christian  school,  Avhich  was  Alexandrian  not  only  in  its 
locality  but  in  many  of  its  fundamental  views,  continued  the 
traditions  of  the  Alexandrian  Judaists ;  founded  by  St.  Mark 
it  was  carried  on  by  the  labours  of  Pantaenus,  Clement  of 
Alexandria,  Dionysius,  Pierius,  Peter  Mart}T,  Didymus,  and 
was  above  all  enriched  by  the  learning  and  genius  of  the 
glorious  and  indefatigable  Origen. 

The  character  of  this  Epistle  is  Alexandrian  in  its  learn- 
ing, its  culture,  its  theosophy,  its  method  of  exegesis.  The 
writer  shows  Alexandrian  influences  in  the  exclusive  regard 
Avhich  he  pays  to  the  Chosen  People  ;  ^  in  his  manner  of  treat- 
ing Scripture,  which  deduces  mysteries  from  its  symbols  and 
latent  meanings  even  from  its  silence ;  in  his  application  to 
Christ  of  many  of  the  terms  and  conceptions  which  Pliilo  had 
applied  to  tlie  Logos ;  in  his  conception  of  the  Word  of  God 
as  more  cutting  than  any  two-edged  sword ;  ^  in  the  un- 
compromising sternness  and  unconditional  condemnation 
with  which  he  sjseaks  of  apostates ;  and  above  all  in  two 
fundamental  conceptions  Avhich  run  throughout  his  Epistle. 
One  of  these  is  the  Melchizedek  priesthood  of  Christ ;  ^  the 
other  is  that  philosophy  of  ideas  which  Philo  borrowed  from 
Plato.  The  keynote  of  the  reasoning  of  the  Epistle  is  found 
in  the  quotation,  "  See  that  thou  aiiake  all  things  *  after  the 
pattern  showed  thee  in  the  mount."  ^  He  regarded  the 
visible  world  as  only  the  shadow  of  the  invisible.  To  him 
the  reality  of  all  phenomena  depended  exclusively  on  the 
unseen,  pre-existent,  eternal  Noumena.  The  world  of  sense 
was  but  a  reflex,  as  a  Persian   poet   said,  of  the   world   of 


^  "The  People  "  always  in  this  Epistle  means  the  Jews,  v.  3  ;  vii.  5,  11,  27  ; 
viii.  10,  &c.  See  ii.  17  ;  iv.  9  ;  xiii.  12.  He  even  speaks  of  the  Incarnutiuu 
;is  "  a  taking  hold  "  not  of  humanity,  but  "  of  Abraham's  seed." 

-  Heb.  iv.  12,  13.     Quis  rcr.  div.  haer.  §  26. 

3  Philo  De  Somn.  §  38  ;  Lrg.  Allege/,  iii.  2.5. 

*  The  readin.n;  "all  things"  for  the  "it"  of  the  Hebrew  and  LXX.  is 
borrowed  from  Philo.  Dc  Leg.  Allegg.  iii.  33. 

*  The  less  cultivated  and  more  litcralising  Rabbis  regarded  this  pattern  as 
inaterial  not  as  ideal. 


438  The  Catholic  Einstks. 

spirit.^  Tliroughout  the  Epistle  he  represents  Pauline  views, 
but  coloured  by  Alexandrian  influences,  and  leaning  as  far 
as  was  possible  for  a  Paulinist  to  the  standpoint  of  Jewish 
Christians.^ 

(3)  It  is  on  this  conception  that  his  whole  argument  is 
based.  He  shows  that  Christianity  is  a  nearer  (and  on  earth 
the  nearest  attainable)  approximation  to  the  Eternal  Arche- 
type. He  thus  furnishes  a  "  thoroughly  original  attempt  to 
establish  the  main  results  of  Paulinism  upon  new  presuppo- 
sitions and  in  an  entirely  independent  way."  St.  Paul's 
arguments,  from  the  very  fact  that  they  were  so  sweeping  and 
irresistible,  awoke  the  bitterest  antagonism  of  the  Jews,  and 
stirred  uj)  all  their  frantic  patriotism  against  the  man  who 
ran  counter  to  all  their  most  cherished  prejudices  by  speaking 
of  the  Law  as  consisting  of  "  weak  and  beggarly  elements," 
and  saying  that  it  was  given  "  for  the  sake  of  transgressions." 
The  argument  of  this  writer  was  far  less  shocking  to  Jewish 
convictions.  It  was  the  argument  a  minori  ad  majus  (first 
formulated  by  Hillel)  with  which  their  own  Rabbinic  methods 
had  made  them  familiar.  The  words  "how  much  more" 
(TTocTft)  fx,aX\ov)  might  almost  be  taken  as  its  pivot.  He 
treats  the  relation  of  Christianity  to  Judaism  not  from  the 
ethical  point  of  view,  as  St.  Paul  does,  but  from  the  meta- 
physical. He  does  not  say  one  wounding  word  against 
Levitism.  He  does  not  dwell,  as  St.  Paul  does,  on  its 
accidental  and  subordinate  character,  its  frivolity,  its  menace, 
or  its  deathfulness.  On  the  contrary,  he  recognises  it  as  a 
sacred  and  essential  part  in  the  unbroken  continuity  of  God's 
economy.  He  views  Mosaism  not  as  St.  Paul  does  as  an 
inferior  intermediate  between  the  promise  to  Abraham  and 
the  Gospel  of  Christ,  but  as  a  copy  between  the  Eternal 
Archetype  and  the  Final  Reality;  as  a  material  symbol  of 
the  Idea  which  should  hereafter  be  subjectively  realised. 
He  is  able  to  speak  of  it  with  respect  as  a  genuine  revelation 

'  "  L'fii)itre  aux  Hebreux  est  incontestablement  I'oeuvre  la  plus  etrange  du 
Kouveau  Tostament.  C'est  une  tete  de  Janus  a  deux  faces,  dont  ime  est  pauli- 
nienne,  niais  dout  I'autre  trahit  les  traits  veiitablement  juifs." — Friedlander. 


Judaism  as  a  Cult.  439 

(i.  1,  ii.  2,  iii.  9,  iv.  12,  xii.  19,  &lc.),  while  yet  he  can  lead  his  Hebrews. 
readers  to  see  that  Christianity  offers  a  better  hope  (vii.  19); 
a  better  covenant  (vii.  22)  ;  a  more  excellent  service  (viii.  6) ; 
a  better  and  more  perfect  tabernacle  (ix.  11)  ;  better  sacrifices 
and  better  promises  (ix.  23) ;  and  above  all  a  great,  sym- 
pathetic, atoning,  glorified  Eternal  Priest.' 

He  was  able  thus  to  avail  himself  of  Jewish  feeling  by 
regarding  Judaism  less  as  a  law  than  as  a  system  of  worship. 
He  seizes  upon  Priesthood  and  Sacrifice  as  the  central  point 
of  his  treatment.  He  treats  the  Temple  and  the  High  Priest 
with  profound  respect.  Christianity  is  represented  as  a 
sublimated,  completed,  idealised  Judaism.  He  dwells  with 
loving  detail  on  the  imposing  splendour  of  the  Tabernacle, 
and  shows  us  the  High  Priest  entering  the  awful  darkness  of 
the  Holiest  Place  and  clad  in  the  pomp  of  his  gorgeous  and 
jewelled  robes  ;  and  then — as  with  one  wave  of  the  wand — 
sets  all  this  aside  as  a  symbol,  a  picture,  a  transient  shadow, 
while  he  draws  aside  the  blue  curtain  of  the  heavens  and  points 
to  the  High  Priest  for  ever  after  the  order  of  Melchizedek  who 
has  passed  with  His  own  blood  once  for  all  into  a  Tabernacle 
not  made  with  hands  eternal  in  the  heavens.^  The  Jewish 
Tabernacle  was  a  material  pattern  of  that  ideal  archetype 
which  is  partially  realised  in  Christianity  now,  and  will  be 
attained  in  heaven  hereafter.  It  was  a  shadow  of  salvation 
which  now  is  subjectively  enjoyed  in  Christianity,  and  will 
hereafter  be  objectively  realised  in  heaven. 

The  Epistle  was  either  written  by  Apollos — a  friend  of 
Timothy,  and  a  follower  of  St.  Paul,  an  Alexandrian  with  Jewish- 
Christian  antecedents,  eloquent,  courageous,  independent,  and 

^  The  Chvistology  of  the  Epistle,  though  the  writer  dwells  so  prominently 
on  Christ's  sufferings  and  humiliation,  is  no  less  lofty  than  that  of  St.  Paul. 
" The  writer  does  not  however  think  of  Christ  as  the  'Second  Adam'  any 
more  than  St.  Paul  thinks  of  W\m  as  *  the  Captain  and  High  Priest  of  our 
profession.'  " — See  Holtzmann  in  Schenkel  Bibel-Lexicon. 

*  "  A  pattern,"  viii.  5  ;  "  a  shadow,"  ix.  1,  23  ;  xi.  1,  3  ;  xii.  18,  27.  "A 
parable,"'  ix.  9  ;  "  antitype,"  ix.  24.  The  "  visible  "  (xi.  3)  is  capable  of  being 
shaken  (xii.  27),  and  is  tangible  (xii.  15),  but  the  archetypal  world,  the  true 
house  of  God  (x.  21),  the  genuine  tabernacle  (viii.  2),  is  based  on  firm 
foundations,  unshakable,  heavenly  (xi.  10 ;  xii.  22-28). 


440       .  The  Catholic  Epistles. 

learned  in  the  Scriptures — or  else  the  name  of  the  author  is 
unknown  to  us.  It  can  be  decisively  proved  that  it  could  not 
have  been  written  by  Aquila,  Titus,  Silas,  Barnabas,  Luke, 
Mark,  Clement,  or  any  other  of  those  companions  of  St.  Paul 
whose  names  are  preserved  for  us  in  the  Epistles  or  the  Acts. 
The  probable  date  of  the  Epistle  is  about  A.D.  68,  shortly 
after  the  martyrdom  of  St.  Paul  and  the  subsequent  liberation 
of  Timothy,  and  certainly  before  the  Fall  of  Jerusalem 
(in  A.D.  70).  It  was  addressed  exclusively  to  some  com- 
munity of  Jewish  Christians  (ii.  3,  4,  iv.  14,  v.  11,  vi.  1,  &c.), 
but  we  know  neither  the  place  at  which  it  was  written  nor 
the  city  to  which  it  was  addressed.^ 

Unlike  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul,  no  name  is  mentioned  at 
the  beginning,  there  is  no  greeting,  and  no  thanksgiving. 
The  writer  plunges  at  once  into  his  subject,  in  one  majestic 
sentence,  in  which  he  summarises  the  religious  history  of  the 
world  before  Christ  and  shows  that  in  the  manifestation  of  this 
supreme  glory  the  final  aeon  of  God's  dispensations  has  begun. 

His  object  is  to  save  the  Jewish  Christians  from  aposta- 
tising under  the  stress  of  persecutions  and  amid  the  glamour 
of  a  pompous  ritual,^  and  this  he  strives  to  accomplish  by 
showing  them  the  unique  transcendence  of  Christ  and  of 
Christianity  by  a  comparison  between  the  Law  and  the  Gospel 
under  the  double  aspect  of  the  mediators  by  whom  they  were 
administered,  and  the  blessings  which  they  were  meant  to 
bestow. 

The  first  seven  chapters  are  devoted  to  the  supremacy  of 
Christ ;  the  eighth,  ninth,  and  tenth  to  the  superiority  of 
the  New  Covenant.  Having  thus  contrasted  Judaism  and 
Christianity  in  their  agents  and  their  results,  he  devotes  the 
rest  of  the  Epistle  to  exhortations  (xi.),  warnings  (xii.),  and 

^  Tlie  Apollos-authorslnp,  suggested  by  Lutlicr,  is  accepted  by  Osiander, 
Clericus,  Heumaim,  Seinler,  Dindorf,  Bleek,  Tholuck,  Credncr,  Keuss,  Moll, 
Lange,  Rotlie,  Buiisen,  Feilinoser,  Luttcibeck,  De  Wette,  Liinemann,  Norton, 
Alford,  riumptre,  ]\Ioulton,  Davidson,  &c. 

^  Tlie  conunon  opinion  is  that  "Hebrews"  must  mean  Palestinian  Jews, 
but  Wieseler  shows  tliat  tliis  is  an  error  {Untersuclmng.  ii.  3),  and  the  opinioji 
that  the  letter  wa.s  wiitton  to  Jerusalem  is  now  untenable. 


Melchizedelc.  44-1 

the  inculcation  of  practical  duties  (xiii.    1 — 17),  and   ends    i 
with  a  few  brief  personal  messages,  a  prayer  for  them,  and 
a  word  of  benediction  (xiii.  18—25). 

Although  the  divisions  are  not  always  distinctly  marked,  it 
will  be  seen  that  the  general  object  of  the  Epistle  is  very 
clear,  and  that  the  argument  is  managed  in  a  manner  which 
does  not  offer  the  smallest  resemblance  to  the  dialectics 
of  St.  Paul,  but  which  is  yet  in  its  own  way  immensely 
effective.  With  admirable  method  the  writer  first  states  his 
magnificent  thesis,  and  then  proceeds  to  prove  it  in  three 
great  sections :  on  the  superiority  of  Christ  to  all  Mediators 
(i. — iv.) ;  on  Christ  as  the  High  Priest  after  the  order  of 
Melchizedck  (v. — vii.) ;  on  Christ's  new  and  better  Covenant 
(viii. — X.).  The  rest  of  the  Ej^istle  enforces  the  practical 
results  which  spring  from  these  great  principles.  The  noble 
chapter  on  the  heroes  of  faith  is  meant  to  carry  out  the 
lessons  of  the  earlier  sections  by  showing  the  Jewish  Christians 
that  there  was  no  discontinuity  in  their  religious  history,  and 
that  the  glories  of  their  past  annals,  so  far  from  being  dimmed 
and  disgraced  for  them,  had  only  been  enriched  and  glorified 
by  their  conversion  to  Christianity,  The  new  disjDensation 
was  not  the  ruinous  overthrow  of  the  old,  but  its  ideal 
fulfilment,  its  predestined  and  eternal  consummation. 

Among  specially  noticeable  features  of  the  Epistle  we  may 
observe — 

1.  The  section  about  Christ  as  a  Priest  after  the  order  of 
Melchizedek. 

All  that  we  know  of  Melchizedek  historically  is  contained 
in  exactly  two  verses  of  the  Book  of  Genesis. 

From  that  allusion  we  learn  that  he  Avas  the  priest-king  of 
tlie  little  town  of  Salem,  who,  with  kind  hospitality,  brought 
forth  bread  and  wine  for  Abraham  and  his  allies  when  they 
returned  victorious  from  the  defeat  of  Amraphel,  king  of 
Shinar,  and  his  vassal  kings.  He  is  called  a  jDriest  of  El 
Elion,  and  though  there  was  a  Phoenician  deity  of  the  name 
Ellon,  it  is  clear  that  by  that  title  here  as  elsewhere  is  meant 


442  The  Catholic  Ejnstks. 

Jehovah,  as  is  indeed  explained  in  verse  22.  Melchizedek 
means,  or  may  mean,  King  of  Righteousness,  Salem  means 
Peace.  On  these  etymological  facts,  together  with  the  cir- 
cumstance that,  in  the  midst  of  idolatrous  Canaanites,  the 
king  of  the  little  town  had  retained  a  knowledge  of  God, 
and  was  a  priest  of  God,  his  name  was  invested  not  only  with 
a  deep  interest,  but  also  with  mysterious  sanctity.  Hence,  in 
the  110th  Psalm,  some  unknown  Hebrew  poet  had  seized 
upon  the  noble  and  ancient  figure  of  tliis  priest  upon  his 
throne  as  the  type  of  the  Royal  Priesthood  of  the  Messiah, 
since  it  was  a  priesthood  anterior  to  that  of  Aaron  and 
superior  in  dignity  even  to  the  patriarchal  position  of  the 
Father  of  the  Faithful.  Slight  as  are  these  two  Scriptural 
allusions  to  Melchizedek — the  only  two  in  all  the  literature 
of  the  Old  Testament — the  Hagadists  founded  on  them  an 
entire  mythology.  In  the  Bereshith  Rabba,  Rabbi  Samuel 
Bar  Nachman  says  that  Melchizedek  taught  to  Abraham  the 
ordinances  of  the  law,  since  the  bread  which  he  brought  forth 
was  a  type  of  the  shewbread  and  the  wine  a  type  of  libations. 
Other  Rabbis  referred  in  this  connection  to  Prov.  ix.  5,  where 
Wisdom  says,  "  Come,  eat  of  my  bread  and  drink  of  the  wine 
which  I  have  mingled." 

The  Rabbis  generally  identified  Melchizedek  with  the 
patriarch  Shem.  They  tell  us  that  God  had  intended  that 
the  priests  should  descend  from  him,  but  since,  in  his  bene- 
diction over  Abraham,  he  had  the  carelessness  to  mention 
Abraham's  name  before  the  name  of  God  ("  Blessed  be 
Abraham  by  the  Eternal"),  an  error  which  Abraham  corrected, 
God  took  the  priesthood  from  Melchizedek  and  gave  it  to 
Abraham.  It  was  thus  that  they  explained  Psalm  x.  "  The 
Lord  said  unto  my  lord  (Abraham),  Sit  thou  at  my  right 
hand " ;  and  Psalm  ex.  4,  "  The  Lord  sware  and  will  not 
repent,  Thou  art  a  priest  for  ever  after  the  order  of 
Melchizedek."  ^     Further  they  say  that  the  expression,  "  He 

^  The  Talnindic  passages  in  which  Melchizedek  is  referred  to  are  Ncdarim, 
32,  2  ;  Sanhedrin,  108,  2 ;  Avodath  Hakkodesh,   iii.  20 ;  Genesis  Rabba,  44  ; 


Melchizedek.  443 

was  a  priest  of  the  Most  High  God,"  means  that  his  priest- 
hood ceased  with  him,  and  was  not  handed  down  to  his 
descendants. 

Since  the  Jews  had  thus  interested  themselves  in  the 
venerable  figure  of  the  king,  peaceful  and  righteous,  the 
mysterious  priest  among  idolaters,  who  flashes  into  light 
for  a  moment  out  of  the  dim  patriarchal  records,  and  then 
disappears  to  emerge  only  in  one  single  alkision  hvmdreds  of 
years  later — it  was  natural  that  the  writer  of  this  Epistle, 
trained  as  he  was  in  Rabbinic  and  Alexandrian  methods, 
should  found  upon  his  priesthood  the  perfectly  sound  argu- 
ment that  the  allusion  of  the  Psalmist  imiDlied  a  priesthood 
older  and  more  permanent  than  that  of  Aaron,  which  was  a 
type  of  the  Eternal  Priesthood  of  Christ, 

Nor  is  it  strange  that  he  builds  on  the  silence  of  Scripture 
an  inference  which  enhances  the  dignity  of  Melchizedek,  when 
he  calls  him  "  fatherless,  motherless,  without  pedigree,  having 
neither  beginning  of  days  nor  end  of  life."  In  using  those 
expressions  he  was  adapting  a  well-known  method  of  Kab- 
balistic  exegesis  to  an  idiom  familiar  in  all  languages.  He 
argues  that  Scripture,  by  not  recording  the  father,  mother,  or 
descendants  of  Melchizedek,  casts  on  him  as  it  were  a  shadow 
of  Eternity. 

If  this  reference  to  Melchizedek  has  been  the  excuse  for  the 
wildest  conjectures — if  an  ancient  Gnostic  sect  called  itself 
Melchizedekian  ^  and  set  ]\Ielchizedek  above  Christ — if  Mel- 
chizedek, the  unknown  priest-king  of  a  little  Canaanite  town 
to  which  the  Book  of  Genesis,  when  allegorically  explained,  has . 

Levit.  Rabba,  25  ;  Numb.  Rabba,  4,  &c.  Fiiedlander,  Eevue  des  Mudes 
juives. 

^  So  Philo,  De  Ehrietate,  §  14,  speaks  of  Sarah  as  a/x^raip,  "  witlwut 
mother,"  because  her  mother  is  not  recorded  ;  so  we  find  in  Bereshith  Rabba  = 
f.  18,  1  :  "A  Gentile  has  no  father."  Eurip.  Ion.  850  :  "  Quibus  nee  pater 
nee  mater  est,"  Cic.  Dc  Nat.  ii.  64:  "  mdlis  majoribus  ortum ; "  Hor.  Sat. 
i.  6,  10. 

"  On  the  Melchizedekians  our  chief  authorities  are  Marcus  Eremita,  Epipha- 
nius,  Hacr.  Iv.  7,  Ixvii.  3  ;  Philastrius,  Hacr  52,  148  ;  Augustine,  Contra 
Mclchizedcchitas  ;  Theodor.  Haer.  ii.  6  ;  Ambrose,  Dc  Abraham,  i.  3. 

See  Friedlander,  Le  Secte  dcs  Mclchisedcc  ct  I'^pUre  aux  ffebreux.  {Rev.  des 
Eludes  juives,  1883,  vol.  v.  pp.  1-188.) 


444  The  Catholic  Epistles. 

given  a  typical  eternity,  has  been  identified  even  by  modern 
commentators  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  "  the  Angel  of  the  Pre- 
sence," "  the  Captain  of  the  Lord's  Host,"  the  Metatron,  tlie 
Jewish  Shekinah,  God  the  Word  previous  to  his  Incarnation — 
such  guesses  are  only  due  to  the  fact  that  Scriptural  exegesis 
has  often  been  founded  on  an  absolute  ignoring  of  all  linguistic 
analogies  and  all  literary  methods.  Otliers  again  have 
identified  him  with  Shem,  with  Ham,  Avith  a  reappearance 
of  Enoch,  and  with  the  Phoenician  god  Sydik  or  Saturn ! 
But  in  all  ages,  both  among  Jews  and  Christians,  there  have 
been  writers  of  eminence  who  took  more  sober  and  reasonable 
views.  Josephus  merely  speaks  of  Melchizedek  as  "  a  chief 
of  the  Canaanites";  ^  and  even  among  the  fathers,  Hippolytus, 
Eusebius  of  Caesarea,  and  others  saw  in  him  simply  what  he 
was — the  casually  mentioned  Sheikh  of  a  little  town  in 
Palestine,  peaceful  among  the  cruel,  pure  amid  the  corrupted, 
a  priest  of  the  one  true  God  among  idolaters — to  whom,  though 
in  all  other  respects  he  lived  and  died  unknown,  his  meeting 
with  Abraham  has  given  a  symbolic  rather  than  a  personal  or 
historical  importance.^ 

2.  Certain  passages  of  the  Epistle  were  misunderstood,  and 
were  the  chief  cause  why  it  was  so  long  rejected  in  the 
Western  Church. 

In  the  Muratorian  Canon  we  are  told  that  "  it  cannot  be 
received  in  the  Catholic  Church  for  it  is  unsuitable  that 
poison  should  be  mixed  with  honey."  Even  in  the  fifth 
century  Philastrius  {Haer.  89)  says  that  it  was  rejected 
because  heretics  had  made  additions  to  it.  Even  Luther, 
while  he  admired  the  Ej)istle  as  a  whole,  said  that  as  the 
author  was  not  one  of  the  Apostles,  to  whom  it  appertained 
to  lay  the  foundations  of  truth,  Ave  must  not  be  shocked  if 
he  perhaps  mingles  in  the  superstructure  some  elements  of 
hay  and  straw  {Strm  odcr  licit). 

'  Jos.  B.  J.  vi.  10. 

-  Modorn  writers  might  draw  precisely  the  saiiie  inferences  as  tlie  author  of 
Ihis  Epistle  does  from  the  same  data;  the  dilference  would  not  be  in  \.\\q point 
qf  view  but  only  in  the  method  of  statement. 


"  Hard  Knots."  445 

The  passage  at  which  the  Church  took  most  alarm  was  iii.  2, 
"  Jesus  Christ  who  was  faithful  to  Him  that  ajjpointed  Him  " 
(tgS  TToujaavTc  avrov,  literally  "  to  Him  that  made  Him  "),  as 
also  Moses  was  in  all  His  (God's)  house."  Taking  the  expres- 
sion literally,  some  heretics,  as  we  learn  from  Philastrius 
{Hacr.  89),  distorted  it  into  an  assertion  that  Christ  was  a 
created  being.  Even  Athanasius  understood  it  of  the  In- 
carnation. But  it  simply  means  that  Christ  as  our  Apostle 
and  High  Priest  was  faithful  to  Him  who  made  Him  such. 
Theodoret  and  other  Greek  Fathers  rightly  saw  that  "  made  " 
here  means  "  appointed,"  and  the  particular  verb  (ttoco))  is 
probably  used  from  a  reminiscence  of  the  LXX.  version  of 
1  Samuel  xii.  6,  "  who  made  Moses."  ^ 

It  is,  however,  a  curious  circumstance  that,  in  dealing  with 
other  subjects  also,  the  author  uses  language  which,  while 
capable  of  explanation,  lent  itself  easily  to  the  possibility  of 
being  misunderstood.  Thus  in  vii.  27,  and  x.  11,  he  seems  to 
say  that  the  high  priests  daily  offered  sacrifices ;  in  vii.  5,  he 
says  that  the  priests  received  tithes  of  the  people  ;  in  ix.  3,  4, 
he  half  implies  that  the  golden  altar  of  incense  (dv/xiaTtjpiov) 
was  in  the  Holy  of  Holies.  His  language  is  never  demon- 
strably wrong,  but  unlike  St.  Paul  he  makes  use  of  expres- 
sions which  appear  to  go  to  the  verge  of  inaccuracy,  or  at  least 
give  rise  to  natural  misapplications. 

3.  Another  remarkable  point  in  this  Epistle  is  the  tone  of 
utter  sternness  which  the  writer  adopts  towards  those  who 
swerve  from  the  faith. 

It  was  because  of  these  "hard  knots"  that  the  E^oistle 
appeared  to  Luther  to  present  a  grave  difficulty.  He  says 
that  in  the  6th  and  10th  chapters  it  refuses  to  sinners 
the  benefits  of  repentance,  and  states,  in  xii,  17,  that  Esau 
though  he  repented  was  not  forgiven.  That,  he  truly  says, 
appears  to  be  contrary  to  all  the  Gospels  and  to  the  Ej^istles 
of  St.  Paul.     Explanations  of  these  passages  may,  he  adds,  bo 

^  Conip.  iMiirk  iii.  14  ;  Acts  ii.  30. 


446  The  Catholic  Epistles. 

furnished,  but,  considering  the  precise  language  of  the  Epistle, 
he  doubts  whether  any  explanation  is  sufficient. 

The  three  passages  in  which  this  tone  of  absolute  and  uncon- 
ditional condemnation  is  adopted  are  vi.  4—8,  x.  26 — 31,  xii. 
16, 17.  They  were  seized  with  avidity  by  the  Montanists  and 
Novatians,  and  all  the  more  because  no  such  passages  occur 
in  St.  Paul's  Epistles.  It  is  true  that  if  the  language  thus  used 
did  not  admit  of  the  large  qualification  which  it  demands,  it 
would  stand  in  flagrant  contradiction  to  the  rest  of  ScrijDture. 
Meanwhile  it  may,  in  part  at  least,  be  due  to  Alexandrian 
views,  for  Philo  also  says  that  a  soul  "once  unyoked  and 
separated  from  the  Logos  will  be  cast  away  for  ever,  without 
possibility  of  returning  to  her  ancient  home." 

But  no  uncatholic  dogma  can  be  based  on  these  passages, 
whether  as  to  the  "  indefectibility  of  grace  "  or  "  final  reproba- 
tion." In  vi.  4,  "  impossible "  cannot,  with  the  Arminians, 
be  pared  down  into  "  very  difficult,"  nor  can  7rapa7rea6vTa<;  be 
rendered  with  the  Calvinists  and  our  A.V.  "  If  they  fall 
away,"  but  "  on  their  falling  away."  But  the  author  is  only 
thinking  of  earthly  conditions,  and  of  what  is  im^iOSsiUe  to 
men.  He  means  that  for  deliberate  apostasy  and  defiant 
wretchlessness  no  human,  no  ecclesiastical,  no  earthly  remedy 
is  provided.  But  that  which  is  impossible  with  men  is  possible 
with  God. 

In  xii.  16,  17,  the  true  rendering  is,  "For  ye  know  that 
afterwards,  when  he  was  even  anxious  to  inherit  the  blessing, 
he  was  rejected  ;  for  he  found  no  opportunity  for  repentance 
— though  he  sought  it  (the  blessing)  earnestly  with  tears." 
Unless  we  are  to  give  to  the  passage  a  sense  which  con- 
tradicts the  rest  of  Scripture,  we  must  understand  "  place 
for  repentance  "  to  mean  such  a  change  of  mind  (Avhether  in 
himself  or  in  his  father)  as  would  reverse  the  consequences  of 
his  profane  levity.  Scripture,  at  any  rate,  knows  nothing 
whatever  of  the  hideous  and  heretical  dogma  which  refused 
absolution  to  all  post-baptismal  sin.  If  Esau  sincerely  repented, 
he  was  forgiven.     The  Targum  on  Job  says  that  he  never  did 


Repentance.  447 

repent.     If  there  was  in  liini  any  metanoia  wliicli  yet  proved 

to  be  ineffectual,  it  was  of  the  character  of  mere  remorse  for 

unalterable  consequences,  and  it  could  not  have  been  that 

genuine  repentance  to  which  the  gate  of  pardon  is  never 

closed. 

"  Who  with  repentance  is  not  satisfied 
Is  not  of  heaven  or  earth."  ^ 

^  Want  of  space  prevents  me  from  adding  any  special  notes  to  particular 
difficulties  and  expressions  in  this  Epistle.  They  do  not  admit  of  very  brief 
treatment.  I  may  therefore  be  permitted  to  refer  to  Eai-ly  Days  of  Christianity, 
i.  266-483,  and  my  edition  of  the  Epistles  in  the  Cambridge  Bible  for  Schools. 


443  The  Catholic  Epistles. 


NOTE  T. 

ANALYSIS   OF    THE   EPISTLE. 

I.  Funtlainental  thesis  (i.  1-4). 
JI.  Christ  is  superior  to  Angels  (5-14). 
Exhortation  (ii.  1-5). 

Christ  raises  humanity  above  angelhood  (ii.  G  IG). 
For  He  was  our  High  Priest  (ii.  17,  18). 
III.  Christ  higher  than  ]\Ioses  (iii.  1-6). 
Exhortation  (iii.  7-19). 

Christ  and  not  Moses  leads  His  people  into  rest  (iv.  1-13). 
Thus  He  is  our  High  Priest  (iv.  14-16). 
IV.  The  High  Priesthood  of  Christ. 

A.  Qualifications  for  High  Priesthood. 
a.  Power  of  sympathy  (v.  1-3). 

/3.  Due  appointment  (4-10). 
P>.  Digression  on   their   spiritual   backwardness,    with   appeals 

warnings,  and  encouragements,  since  our  hopes  are  based  on 

Christ.'s  High  Priesthood,  which  was  not  Aaronic,  but  eternal 

after  the  order  of  Melchizedek  (v.  1 1-vi.  20). 
C.  The  Melchizedek  Priesthood  superior  to  the  Aaronic. 

a.  Because  it  is  eternal  (vii.  1-3). 

^.  Acknowledged  by  Abraham  (4-10). 

y.  Recognised  in  the  Psalms  (11-14)  ;  and  involving  a  cliange 
also  in  the  Law  (15-19). 

8.  Founded  on  an  oath  (20-22). 

€.  Continuous,  not  hereditary  (23-25). 
V.  A.  Christ  is  the  minister  of  a  new  and  better  Covenant  (viii.). 

B.  Superiority  of  the  New  Covenant  shown  by  a  comparison  of 
Christ  passing  into  the  heavens,  once  for  all,  into  the  imme- 
diate presence  of  God,  sinless,  through  His  own  blood,  to  make 
an  eternally  efficacious  atonement,  with  the  repeated,  in- 
efficacious, syinbolio  ministry  of  the  High  Priests  on  the  Day 
of  Atonement  (ix.). 

C.  Recapitulation  and  .summary  (x.  1-18). 
Solemn  warning  (x.  19-39). 

VI.  The  Heroes  of  Faith  (xi.) 
VII.  Final  exhortations,  warnings,  messages,  and  blessing  (xii. -xiii.). 


Special  Phrases.  449 


NOTE  II. 

CHARACTERISTIC   WORDS   OF  THE   EPISTLE. 

Tlie  word  "  better  "  (Kpfla-a-av)  occurs  more  often  in  this  Epistle  than 
in  all  the  rest  of  the  New  Testament — namely,  thirteen  times  ;  whereas 
elsewhere  it  only  occurs  twice  in  St.  Peter,  and  three,  or  peihaps  four, 
times  in  St.  Paul. 

i.  4.     "  Better  than  the  angels." 

vi.  9.  "  We  are  persuaded  better  things  of  you  "  (vii.  7). 

vii.  19.  "A  bringing  in  of  a  better  hope." 

vii.  22.  "  Jesus  hath  become  the  surety  of  a  better  covenant." 

viii.  6,  "  He  is  the  mediator  of  a  better  covenant  which  hath  been 
enacted  upon  better  promises." 

ix.  23.  "With  better  sacrifices  than  these." 

X.  34.  "Ye  have  yourselves  as  a  better  possession"  (in  some 
readings). 

xi.   1 6,  35.  "  A  better  country "  ;  "a  better  resurrection." 

xi.   40.  "  God  having  provided  some  better  thing  concerning  us." 

xii.  24.  "  The  blood  of  sprinkling  which  speaketh  better  than  that  of 
Abel." 

Besides  this  we  have  " moi-e  excellent"  {8ia<j)op(iT€pos,  i.  4;  viii.  6), 
which  does  not  occur  elsewhere  in  the  New  Testament;  and  "by  so 
much,"  "by  how  much  more"  (too-ovVw  .  .  oo-g)),  and  similar  phrases, 
i.  4  ;  iii.  3  ;  x.  25,  &c. 

It  may  thus  be  truly  said  that  the  essence  of  the  Epistle  is  an  argu- 
ment a  fortiori;  a  comparison  a  minori  ad  mujus. 


THE  EPISTLE  OF  JUDE. 

OF   UNCERTAIN    DATE. 


ippuiiivwv  \6yoi)v. — Ohigen,  in  Matt.  xiii.  55. 

"  Quia  de  libro  Enoch  assumsit  testimonium  a  plerisque  rejicitur  :  tamen 
auctoritatem  vetustato  jam  et  usu  meruit  ut  inter  .sacras  Scriptures  compute- 
tur," — Jkiiome,  CuI.  Jiicript.  Eccl.  4. 


"  I  was  compelled  to  write  to  you,  exhorting  you  to  contend  earnestly  for 
the  faith  once  for  all  delivered  to  tlie  saints." — Jude  3. 

The  Ej^istle  of  Jude  certainly  presents  more  surprising 
phenomena  than  any  other  book  of  the  New  Testament.  It 
is  in  many  respects  altogether  unique. 

In  style  it  is  original  and  picturesque.^  In  tone  it  is 
intense,  vehement,  denunciative.  In  its  point  of  view,  it  is 
Judaeo-Christian.2  In  structure  it  is  Aramaic,  abounding  in 
triple  arrangements.  In  matter  it  abounds  in  strange  allu- 
sions to  Jewish  Hagadoth  and  apocrj^hal  incidents.  In  some 
respects  it  resembles  a  passionate  page  of  one  of  the  old 
prophets  when  they  denounce  apostasy  and  idolatry :  in  others, 
it  has  affinity  with  Apocalyptic  literature;  except  that  it  does 
not  develop  its  isolated  metajjliors  into  continuous  symbols. 
Another  curious  fact  is  the  relation  which  it  holds  to  the 

^  Like  the  style  of  the  Book  of  "Wisdom  it  is  lexically  rich  and  poetic,  but 
structurally  unclassical.  It  is  Greek  as  learnt  by  a  foreigner,  and  partly  from 
books  ;  and  it  is  mixed  up  with  Hebrew  phrases  {e.g.  davixaCeiv  irp6ffwira). 

-  The  Levitic  training  of  the  writer  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  he  twice 
nlludes  to  a  peculiar  form  of  Levitic  pollution,  verses  S,  23.  Both  allusions 
are  omitted  in  2  Pet, 


Jude.  451 

second  cliaptei-  of  the  Second  Epistle  of  St.  Peter,  but  as  it 
may  now  be  regarded  as  all  but  certain  that  the  author  of  that 
Epistle  is  the  borrower,  and  St.  Jude  the  original  writer,  we 
need  not  here  allude  further  to  that  circumstance. 

Who  was  the  writer  ? 

1.  He  calls  himself  Jude,  "a  slave  of  Jesus  Christ  and  a 
brother  of  James." 

The  expression  "  slave  of  Jesus  Christ,"  first  used  by  St 
Paul  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  is  found  also  in  the  Second 
Epistle  of  St.  Peter  and  in  St.  James.  If  the  writer  adds  that 
he  is  "  a  brother  of  James,"  this  can  only  be  to  enable  his 
readers  to  identify  him.  Among  the  Jews  there  was  an  ex- 
treme paucity  of  names,  and  Jude  was  one  of  the  very 
commonest  of  those  few  names.  There  are  six  Judes  in  the  New 
Testament  alone  and  very  many  in  Josephus  and  among  the 
Rabbis.  The  name  at  once  marks  the  nationality  of  the  writer  ; 
he  is  so  completely  a  Jew  that  he  has  not  even  adopted  the 
almost  universal  practice  among  his  countrymen  of  choosing 
another  name  fur  the  purpose  of  intercourse  with  the 
Gentiles.  But  the  name  "  Jude  "  alone  would  convey  no  de- 
finite information.  There  are  at  least  three  Judes  in  the 
very  naiTOw  circle  of  early  believers.  Judas  Iscariot  was  dead ; 
there  was  another  Apostle  who  with  the  name  Jude  also  bore 
the  names  Lebbaeus  and  Thaddaeus.  This  three-named 
Apostle  was  the  son  of  a  James  of  whom  we  know  nothing 
(Luke  vi.  16  ;  Acts,  i.  13) ;  and  is  himself  entirely  unknown 
to  us  except  by  a  single  question  (John  xviii.  3),  and  by  the 
tradition  that  he  laboured  in  Syria  and  died  at  Edessa.  There 
was  also  a  Judas  Barsabbas  (Acts  xv.  22).  The  writer  of  this 
Epistle  distinctly  intimates  that  he  was  not  himself  an  Apostle 
(verses  17,  18),  and  as  he  was  in  other  respects  unknown  he 
describes  himself  as  "  the  brother  of  James."  ^ 

At  this  period,  after  the  early  death  of  James  the  son  of 
Zebedee,  there  was  but  one  James  who  was  universally  known 

^  Hegesippus,  ap.  Euseb.  H.E.  iii.  19.  There  was  also  a  Jiule,  Bishop  of 
Jerusalem  in  the  days  of  Hadrian. — Euseb.  H.E.  iv.  5. 

G  2 


452  The  Catholic  E2nstles. 

throughout  the  Church,  and  that  was  James  the  Lord's 
brother,  the  author  of  the  Epistle,  and  the  Bishop  of  Jerusalem. 
When  "  James "  was  mentioned,  the  early  Christians  knew 
that  he  was  meant  (Gal.  i.  19,  ii.  12).  Jude  identified  him- 
self sufficiently  for  his  purpose  when  he  called  himself  "  the 
brother  of  James." 

But  if  he  was  "  the  brother  of  James,"  why  does  not  he  also 
call  himself  the  Lord's  brother  ?  (Matt.  xiii.  55 ;  Mark  vi.  3.) 
For  the  same  reason  that  James  does  not.  Awe  and  humility 
prevented  him.  Their  relationship  to  Jesus  of  Nazareth  in 
the  earthly  life  gave  them  no  right  to  speak  of  themselves  as 
brothers  of  Him  who  now  sat  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Majesty 
on  high.  I  believe  that  both  James  and  John  would  have 
repudiated  with  something  like  horror  and  indignation  the 
title  of  adelphotheos,  "  brother  of  God,"  which  was  sometimes 
applied  to  them  in  the  early  Church,  and  which  is  even  found 
in  late  inscriptions  of  this  Ej)istlo. 

We  know  nothing  more  of  this  Jude  except  that  he  was 
married,  and  that  he  must  have  been  dead  before  the  reign  of 
Domitian  (a.d.  80).  We  learn  these  facts  from  the  anecdote 
recorded  by  Hegesippus  (ap.  Euseb.  H.E.  iii.  20),  that  the 
grandsons  of  Jude,  the  Lord's  brother,  were  summoned  before 
Domitian,  whose  jealousy  had  been  excited  by  rumours  about 
Christ's  kingdom.  These  earthly  kinsmen  of  our  Lord  were 
known  among  Christians  as  the  DesiDosyni,  and  they  were 
summoned  from  Palestine  into  Domitian's  presence.  When 
he  saw  that  they  were  poor  peasants,  whose  hands  were  hard 
with  labour,  and  heard  that  they  had  only  seven  acres  of  land 
between  them,  which  they  farmed  themselves,  he  was  content 
with  their  assurance  that  the  kingdom  of  Christ  was  neither 
earthly  nor  of  this  world  but  heavenly  and  angelical.  He 
dismissed  them  with  contempt,  and  with  them  (so  far  as  we 
know)  ended  the  race  of  the  family  of  Nazareth. 

2.  What  Avas  the  date  of  this  Epistle,  and  by  what  circum- 
stances was  it  called  forth  ? 

All   that  we   can   say  of  the  date  is  that  it  must   have 


Genuineness.  453 

been  written  before  the  accession  of  Domitian  (a.d.  80),  because 
at  that  time  Jude  was  dead  ;  and  indeed  before  the  destruction 
of  Jerasalem,  because  otherwise  that  awful  catastrophe  must 
have  been  alluded  to  among  the  retributive  events  to  which 
the  writer  appeals.  For  the  genuineness  of  the  Epistle  may 
be  assumed.  It  is  among  the  best  attested  of  the  Antilegomcna} 
The  name  of  Jude  was  far  too  insignificant  in  the  Church  to 
tempt  any  forger  or — to  use  a  milder  term — falsarius  to  adu^^t 
it.  The  object  of  pseudepigraphy  was  not  deceptive  but  lite- 
rary. It  was  meant  to  claim  the  authority  of  some  weighty 
and  distinguished  name  for  opinions  which  might  otherwise 
fail  to  attract  the  same  attention.  But  opinions  would  gain 
little  from  the  name  of  one  who  was  so  obscure  that  he  can 
only  mention  himself  as  the  brother  of  some  one  else.  Besides 
this,  the  phenomena  of  the  Epistle  itself  are  too  surprising  to 
have  come  from  a  forger's  hand.  He  would  have  defeated  his 
own  object  by  the  adoption  of  an  unusual  style  and  unprece- 
dented allusions.  A  forger  would  not  have  referred  to  strange 
legends,  or  have  introduced  into  the  compass  of  a  few  vei'ses 
a  mass  of  unique  w^oids  and  phrases.  But  St.  Jude  himself 
tells  us  the  circumstances  under  which  this  strange  impas- 
sioned outburst  was  written. 

He  tells  us  that  he  was  very  earnestly  meditating  a  letter 
(aTTovh-qv  irocovfievo^  rypd(f)etv)  to  Christians  about  the  com- 
mon salvation,  when  he  felt  himself  under  a  sudden  and  im- 
mediate necessity  {avdyKrjv  eaxov  ypd-^ai)  to  write  to  them 
at  once  to  contend  on  behalf  of  the  faith  once  for  all  delivered 
to  the  saints.  For  he  finds  that  persons  whom  he  will  not 
name  {tiv€<;  avOpcoiroi),  who  had  long  ago  been  fore-j)ictured 
for  this  doom,  have  slunk  into  the  Church  (irapeiaehvaav) — 
impious  men,  transforming  the  grace  of  our  God  into  wan- 
tonness, denying  our  only  Master  and  Lord,  Jesus  Christ. 

It  was  to  Jude  a  strange  and  an  appalling  phenomenon. 

^  It  is  not.  in  tlie  Pesliito,  and  is  not  quoted  by  Justin  Hart}"!-,  Irenaens,  or 
Theoiibilus  of  Antioch  ;  Theodore  of  Mopsuestia  rejected  it.  Eut  it  is  recog- 
nised in  Tertullian  and  Clement  of  Alexandria  and  Origen. 


454  The  Catholic  Epistles. 

These  men  who  had  insinuated  themselves  ("slunk  in") 
into  the  Christian  body  were  marked  by  two  frightful 
characteristics — impious  apostasy  and  wanton  license.  He 
wishes  then  to  remind  the  faithful/  once  for  all,  though  they 
know  all  things,  (TrdvTo)  that  Jesus  ^ — the  Angel  of  the  Lord 
in  the  wilderness — first  saved  from  Egypt  the  chosen  people, 
and  then  destroyed  those  that  proved  faithless.  The  fall  of 
the  angels  who  kept  not  their  own  principality  through  sensual 
sins,  and  the  overthrow  of  the  cities  of  the  plain  pointed  the 
same  warning  lesson.  These  apostates  in  their  insolent  inde- 
pendence defile  the  flesh  and  "  rail  at  glories."  The  example 
of  even  Michael,  who  would  not  rail  at  Satan  when  he  was 
contending  with  him  for  the  body  of  Moses,  might  rebuke 
their  insolence  ;  ^  and  the  irrational  animals,  who  do  not  fall 
into  their  abysses  of  cori-uption,  might  rebuke  their  lust. 
They  combine  the  violence  of  Cain  with  the  corrupting  in- 
fluence of  Balaam  and  the  rebelliousness  of  Korah.  "  These," 
he  says,  "  are  the  sunken  reefs  in  your  agapae  ('  love  feasts '), 
banqueting  dauntlessly  with  you,  pasturing  themselves ;  water- 
less clouds  swept  hitlier  and  thither  by  winds,  autumnal 
trees,  fruitless,  twice  dead,  deracinated  (e/cpt^cu^eVra) ;  wild 
waves  of  the  sea  foaming  out  their  own  shames ;  wandering 
stars  for  which  the  mirk  of  darkness  has  been  reserved  for 
ever."  Then,  after  applying  to  them  a  quotation  from  the 
Apocryphal  Book  of  Enoch,^  he  charges  them  with  murmur- 


^  Those  who  are  "kept  for  Jesus  Christ,"  conip.  John  xvii.  11.  The  verb 
TTjpe?!'  occurs  three  times  in  this  Epistle,  verses  1,  6,  13. 

'^  The  readings  here  a(lo]>ted.  often  differ  from  tliose  of  the  A.V.  They  are 
generally  noticed  in  the  11.  V. 

*  It  seems  clear,  though  we  may  think  it  strange,  that  these  Antinomian 
libertines  are  here  reproved  for  railing  at  fallen  spirits,  which  even  Michael 
would   not  do,  comp.   Rev.  xii.    10.     Milton  makes   Gabriel  say   to   Satan, 

"Satan,  I  know  thij  strength,  and  thou  know'st  mine. 
Neither  our  own,  but  given." 
Clearly,  as  Dr.  Fraser  says,  St.  Jude  would  not  have  approved  of  the  tendency 
of  modern  literature  to  speak  of  Satan  with  contemptuous  jocularity,  as  in 
Bon  Jonson's  "  The  Devil  is  an  Ass,"  or  Burns's  "  Address  to  the  Dcil." 

*  "  Enoch  the  .9n-rt7(/7)  from  Adam."  We  should  say  "the  sixth,"  but  the 
Jews  counted  inclusively.  Besides  this  quotation  there  are  references  to  the 
language  of  the  Book  of  Enoch  in  verses  6,  7,  13,  &c. 


Apostates.  455 

ings,  discontent  (/uLefi-^ifioipoi),  sensuality,  vaunting  language, 
and  designing  partiality. 

The  faithful  must  remember  that  the  Apostles  had  pro- 
phesied of  these  scoffers,  these  egoistic  (■xItv^ikoI),  unspiritual 
separatists  (Scopi^ovTe'i).  They  must  keep  themselves  secure 
by  prayer  and  watchfulness.  Some  of  these  errorists  they 
must  convince  by  discussion ;  some  they  must,  so  to  speak, 
snatch  out  of  the  fire ;  others  they  must  pity  but  must 
shun  their  contaminating  contact. 

He  ends  with  a  blessing  which  seems  to  be  modelled  on 
that  at  the  end  of  Romans  (xvi.  25 — 27),  but  is  marked  by 
some  of  the  peculiar  expressions  which  Jude  adopts  at  every 
turn  : — 

"  Now  to  him  that  is  able  to  guard  you  unstumbling,  and 
to  set  you  before  His  glory  blameless  in  exultation,  to  the  onl}" 
God  our  Saviour  by  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord  be  glory,  majesty, 
might,  and  power,  both  before  all  the  aeons,  and  now,  and  to  all 
the  aeons.     Amen." 

Such  is  the  strange  Epistle  of  St.  Jude,  which  is  full  of 
valuable  moral  lessons,  though  they  are  conveyed  in  so 
peculiar  a  form. 

It  shows  us  at  once  how  false  an  estimate  we  form  when  we 
imagine  that  the  Church  of  even  the  first  century  was  in  a 
state  of  spotless  purity.  Hegesippus  says  that  the  Church 
was  a  virgin  till  the  days  of  Symeon,  son  of  Clopas,  second 
Bishop  of  Jerusalem,  and  that  then  Thebuthis — apparently  a 
kind  of  personified  heresy  ^ — began  to  afflict  the  Church.  But 
from  the  very  first  the  dragnet  of  the  Church  contained  bad  fish 
as  well  as  good,  and  in  the  field  of  the  Church  tares  grew  as 
well  as  wheat.  There  is  scarcely  one  of  the  Apostles  who 
does  not  show  us  that  there  existed  in  the  Church  from  the 
first  some  men  who  had  not  abandoned  their  heathen  prac- 
tices," and  others  who  made  their  spiritual  freedom  a  cloak 


1  Rufinus  has  "Theobutes  quidam."     The  word  is  possibly  connected  with 
3Xri,  "filth." 

a'l  Thcss.  iv.  6  ;  Eph.  v.  3  ;  1  Cor.  v.  1-11  ;  2  Cor.  xii.  21. 


-^.    jr    'jBL   11 


it  ffeniiUf-fii  ansTiX  i-ia    '  au 


I 


Anabaptists.  457 

sible  for  these  excesses,  and  might  say  or  insinuate  that  he 
taught  "  apostasy  from  Moses,"  just  as  the  Romanists  might 
have  charged  Luther  and  do  still  charge  him  with  having 
sown  the  seeds  of  Antinomianism  and  revolt.  New  truth  is 
always  liable  to  misinterpretation  and  to  perversion  ;  but,  as  an 
ancient  Father  wisely  and  bravely  said,  "  It  is  better  that 
truth  be  preached  even  if  some  pervert  it  than  that  for  fear 
of  its  perversion,  truth  should  be  suppressed."  We  cannot  be 
surprised  when  the  old  wine-skins  are  bursten  by  the  new 
fermenting  wine. 

When  we  read  the  history  of  the  Anabaptists  and  the 
career  of  men  like  Thomas  Mlinzer  and  John  of  Leyden,  we 
see  a  reproduction  of  the  very  features  of  crime  and  heresy 
which  St.  Jude  condemns  in  these  immoral  Gnostics  of  his 
own  day.^  They  too  built  up  the  most  monstrous  abuses  on  the 
doctrine  of  justification  by  faith.  They  too  combined  the  in- 
flated, boastful,  insolent  language  (yirepoyKa,  verse  16)  of  wild 
and  fanatical  enthusiasm  with  extreme  religious  pretensions. 
They  too  were  apostate  and  Antinomian  Pharisees.^  They 
too  had  agapae  in  which  they  wore  as  "  sunken  reefs,"  and 
in  which  they  rioted  with  shameful  and  shameless  self-in- 
dulgence (verse  12).  They  too  "railed  at  glories,"  making 
"  death  to  all  priests  and  nobles "  their  common  cry.  They 
too  plunged  into  the  grossest  excesses  of  sensuality,  like 
Bochelson  who  took  fifteen  wives  at  Miinster  and  said  that  he 
would  have  800,  or  his  agent  Knipperdolling,  who,  with 
the  words  of  Scripture  for  ever  on  his  lips,  danced  indecent 
dances  in  the  market-place,  and  taught  the  doctrine  of  "  holy 
sensuality." 

The  Epistle  of  St.  Jude  draws  a  picture  which  might  be 

applied   line   by   line,    and   word    by   word,    to  the    obscure 

wretches    {avdpwiroi  Tiv€<i) — the    Bochelsons  and    Knipper- 

doUings,   the    Krechtings    and   Hoffmans,  the  Stiibners  and 

Miinzers— of   the  years  1521  to  1535;   and  something    of 

^  Such   men — Kicolaitans,   Cerintliians,    Ophites,   Cainites,   Carpocratians, 
Antitactao,  Adamites — ahoimded  a  little  later,  and  in  the  second  century. 
^  StoplCoyres  =  Separatists  =  Phaiisees.     See  Iloolcer,  Scrm.  v.  11. 


458  .  The  Catholic  Epistles. 

Jude's  own  tone  rings  through  the  eight  sermons  which 
Luther  preached  at  Witteniberg  on  the  days  after  his  return 
to  that  city  in  1522,  The  Anabaptists,  no  less  than  these  Anti- 
nomians,  were  murderous  like  Cain,  corrupted  others  with 
sensuality  like  Balaam,  and  like  Korah  set  at  defiance  all 
constituted  authorities. 

As  for  the  Babbinic  and  Hagadistic  allusions  of  St.  Jude, 
we  must  leave  them  where  we  find  them.  It  is  undeniable 
and  undoubted  that  he  makes  a  direct  citation  found  in  the 
Apocryphal  Book  of  Enoch ;  that  he  attributes  the  fall  of  the 
angels  (as  the  Book  of  Enoch  does)  to  their  sins  with  mortal 
women  ;  that,  like  Philo,  he  apparently  identifies  the  pillar 
of  fire  with  a  manifestation  of  Jesus  (verse  5) ;  that  he  refers 
to  a  singular  Jewish  legend  about  a  dispute  between  Satan 
and  the  Archangel  Michael  about  the  body  of  Moses,  which 
Origen  says  was  quoted  from  an  Apocryphal  book  called  "  The 
Assumption  of  Moses,"  and  which  is  alluded  to  in  the  Targum 
of  Jonathan.  These  peculiarities  were  sufficient  to  cause  the  re- 
jection of  the  book  by  many  as  uncanonical ;  ^  and  the  omission 
of  these  very  elements  by  the  writer  of  the  Second  P]pistle  of 
St.  Peter  shows  that  they  were  felt  by  some  to  be  anomalous 
or  open  to  objection.  We  can  throw  little  or  no  light  on  the 
matter  because  we  are  ignorant  of  the  arguments  which  would 
have  told  most  powerfully  among  those  to  whom  the  Epistle 
was  addressed.  All  that  can  be  said  is  that  the  Church  has 
accepted  the  Epistle  as  a  portion  of  the  canonical  Scriptures, 
without  at  the  same  time  receiving  the  Book  of  Enoch,  or 
pronouncing  any  opinion  on  such  subjects  as  the  fall  of  angels 
or  the  contest  of  an  Archangel  with  Satan  about  the  body  of  a 
man.  All  speculation  on  such  subjects  is  vain  and  useless,  but 
the  moral  lessons  which  St.  Jude  inculcates  belong  to  all  time. 

•  The  words  of  Jerome  are  remarkalile : — "  Et  qiiia  de  liliro  Enoch,  qui 
npocryplius  est  in  efl,  (epistolS,),  assumsit  testimonium,  a  plerisque  rejicitur  : 
tamcn  audoritntem  veticstain  jam  et  usu  meruit,  ut  inter  sacras  seripturas 
computetur."— G^atoZ  Script.  Ecd.  4.  Didymus  of  Alexandria  felt  the  same  ob- 
jection. The  Book  of  Enoch  is  now  well  known  froni  the  translation  from  the 
Aethiopic  by  Lawi-ence  (1821),  and  Dillman  (1853).  •' The  Assumption  of 
iloses     has  perished. 


Peculiarities  of  Structure  and  Phraseology.     459 


NOTE  I. 

PECULIARITIES   OF   STRUCTURE   AND    PHRASEOLOGY   IN    THE   EPISTLE    OF 
ST.    JUDE. 

Arrangements  by  threes. 
Mercy,  peace,  love,  vs.  1. 

The  Israelites  ;  the  Fallen  Angels  ;  the  Sodomites,  vss.  5-7. 
Corrupt,  rebellious,  railing,  vs.  8. 
Followers  of  Cain,  Balaam,  Korah,  vs.  11. 
Murmurers,  discontented,  self-willed,  vs.  16. 
Boastful,  partial,  covetous,  vs.  16. 
Separatists,  egoistic,  unspiritual,  vs.  19. 
To  be  refuted  ;  saved  by  effort ;  pitied  with  detestation  of  their 

sins,  vss.  22,  23. 
Saints  to  build  themselves  in  the  faith  ;  to  keep  themselves  in  the 

love  of  God  ;  to  await  the  mercy  of  Christ,  vs.  20. 
Glory  to  God  in  the  past,  present,  and  future,  vs.  25. 
Unique  expressions,  "to  contend  for";  "slunk  in";  "going  after 
strange  flesh  "  ;  "  naturally  "  ;  "  poured  themselves  forth  "  ;  "  love 
feasts";  "sunken  reefs";  "autumnal";  "foaming  forth";  "wander- 
ing stars  "  ;  "  murmurers  "  ;  "  blamers  of  tlieir  lot "  ;  "  separatists  "  ; 
"  unstumbling  "  ;  "  before  all  the  aeons,' '  &c. 

"  Archangel "  occurs  elsewhere  only  in  1  Thess.  iv.  16, 
Michael  only  in  Dan.  x.  13  ;  Rev.  xii.  7. 


THE  SECOND  EPISTLE  OF  ST.  PETER. 

OF   UNCERTAIN   DATE. 

"Stylo  inter  se  et  cbaractere  discreiJaut  structuraque  verboram.  Ex  quo 
intelligimus  pro  necessitate  renim  diversis  eum  usum  interpretibus." — Jer.  Ep. 
ad.  Hedib.,  cxx.  11. 


In  reading  tlie  Second  Epistle  of  St.  Peter  we  are  face  to 
face  with  a  book  which  is  indeed  an  acknowledged  part  of 
the  canon,  and  which  contains  many  great  and  sacred  lessons, 
but  of  which  the  genuineness  is  less  certain  than  that  of  any- 
book  of  the  New  Testament.  It  is  an  Epistle  for  which  we 
can  offer  the  smallest  amount  of  external  evidence,  and 
which  at  the  same  time  presents  the  greatest  number  of 
internal  difficulties. 

The  evidence  in  its  favour  becomes  all  the  weaker  when 
it  is  contrasted  with  the  aU  but  unanimous  acceptance  of 
the  First  Epistle.  Setting  aside  some  dim  and  dubious 
signs  that  it  may  have  been  read  by  Hermas  and  by  Melito 
of  Sard  is,  there  is  no  certain  proof  that  it  was  known  to 
any  writer  of  the  first  or  second  centuries.  By  Polycarp, 
Ignatius,  Barnabas,  Clement  of  Rome,  Justin  Martyr,  Theo- 
philus  of  Antioch,  Irenaeus,  TertuUian,  and  Cyprian  it  is 
ignored,  as  also  by  the  Peshito,  the  Ita,la,  and  the  Murato- 
rian  canon.  By  Clement  of  Alexandria  and  by  Origen,  by 
Eusebius,  by  Theodore  of  Mopsuestia,  by  Gregory  of 
Nazianzus,  it  is  conti'o verted  or  regarded  as  of  uncertain 
authorship;  by  Didymus  of  Alexandria  and  by  the  Syriac 


Uncertain.  461 

school  at  Nisibis  it  was  rejected  as  "  spurious  and  not  in  the 
canon."  ^  It  was  not  till  the  fourth  century  that  it  was 
accepted,  and  it  was  only  by  late  Councils  in  the  fourth 
century  that  it  was  declared  to  be  canonical.  If  it  was 
indeed  in  the  hands  of  the  Church  and  the  Fathers  of  the 
second  and  third  centuries,  the  tardy  and  hesitating  recog- 
nition of  an  Epistle  which  boie,  alike  in  its  structure  and  on 
its  forefront,  the  claim  that  it  was  written  by  the  chief 
Apostle  is  unfavourable  rather  than  otherwise  to  its  asserted 
genuineness.  The  Church  of  the  fourth  century  was  in  no 
respect  better  able  to  decide  upon  critical  questions  than  we 
are — in  many  respects  far  less  so ;  and  though  the  Councils  of 
Laodicea  and  Carthage  declared  it  to  be  canonical,^  Jerome, 
who,  by  admitting  the  Epistle  into  the  Vulgate,  did  more  than 
any  man  to  further  its  acceptance,  yet  admits  that  it  was  in 
his  day  rejected  by  most  Christians,  and  that  it  differs  from 
the  First  Epistle  in  style,  character,  and  structure  of  words.^ 
In  fact,  he  can  only  accept  the  j)artial  genuineness  of  the 
Epistle  by  supposing  that  "  from  the  necessity  of  things  St. 
Peter  made  use  of  different  interpreters ; "  Avhich  practically 
means  that,  while  the  thoughts  are  those  of  the  Apostle,  the 
words  and  the  style  belong  to  some  one  else. 

After  the  fourth  century,  during  long  centuries  of  critical 
torpor,  scarcely  any  one  ventured  to  question  the  current 
tradition.  But  at  the  Renaissance,  when  the  Reformation 
broke  "  the  deep  slumber  of  decided  opinions,"  and  Church- 
men were  no  longer  able  to  suppress  inquiry  by  violence, 
the  old  doubts  immediately  revived.  They  were  freely 
expressed  by  Erasmus,  Luther,  Calvin,  Cajetan,  Grotius, 
Scaliger,  Salmasius.  In  modern  times  the  genuineness  of 
the  Epistle  has  been  denied  without  hesitation,  not  only  by 
Semler,  Baur,  Schwegler,  De  Wette,  Hilgenfeld,  Meyerhoff, 

^  For  details  see  Davidson,  Introd.  ii.  474-484.  Westcott,  On  the  Canon, 
Chavtoris  on  Canonicity. 

-  Laodicea,  a.d.  363  ;  Hippo,  A.D.  393  ;  Carthage,  A.D.  397. 

^  "  A  plerisquc  ejus  esse  negatur,  jn'opter  styli  cum  priore  dissonaiitiam." 
— Jer.  De  Scrijit.  Ecel.  1. 


402  The  Catholic  Epistles. 

2  I'ETEu.  Bleek,  Mesnier,  Reuss,  Immer,  Pfleiderer,  Renan,  Davidson, 
Abbott,  but  even  by  such  conservative  theologians  as 
Neander,  Weiss,  Hutlier,  De  Pressens^,  and  in  part  by 
Bcrtholdt,  Ullmann,  Bunsen,  and  even  Lange,  who  hold  that 
it  has,  in  any  case,  been  largely  interpolated. 

And  indeed  when  we  take  up  the  Epistle  we  can  hardly 
wonder  either  at  the  tardiness  of  the  ancient  recognition  or 
at  the  strength  of  the  recent  doubts,  for  there  is  hardly  a 
single  paragraph  of  the  letter  which  does  not  abound  in  the 
most  startling  phenomena. 

In  the  first  place,  the  style — as  was  noticed  more  than 
fifteen  centuries  ago — is  totally  unlike  that  of  the  First 
Letter.  It  is  true  that  some  of  the  same  phrases  and  ex- 
pressions— such  as  "  conversation  " ;  "  eye-witness  "  (eVoTTT*;?)  ; 
"  to  carry  off  as  a  prize  "  ;  "  to  walk  in  lusts  "  ;  "  spotless  and 
blameless  "  ;  "  lawless  "  (a^ecr/io?) ;  "  ceasing  from  sin  " ;  and 
"  putting  away  " — occur  in  both.^  But  this  fact  goes  only  a 
very  little  way  to  counterbalance  the  opposite  phenomena  of 
a  style  radically  different,  and  expressions  as  unique  as  they 
are  extraordinary.  For  it  is  in  any  case  admitted  that  the 
writer  of  the  Second  Epistle  was  perfectly  well  acquainted 
with  the  First ;  and  if  indeed  he  was  a  falsarius,  who,  for 
religious  purposes,  adopted  the  name,  as  he  believed  himself 
to  express  the  sentiments,  of  St.  Peter,  he  shows  an  extreme 
anxiety  to  speak  in  the  person  of  the  great  Aiaostle,^  and  he 
would  therefore  naturally  familiarise  himself  with  the  genuine 
expressions  both  of  his  E^jistle  and  of  his  speeches  as  re- 
corded in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  But  his  parsimonious 
constructions,  combined  with  a  vocabulary  sparse  yet  sonorous, 
leave  a  very  different  impression  from  that  produced  by  the 
finer  periods  of  St.  Peter's  genuine  Epistle.^ 

^  Add  the  words  iirixop-nyfu,  <pi\a5e\<pia  a(7e\yeia,  evff(0eta  (Acts  iii. 
12),  "the  Day  of  the  Lord"  (Acts  ii.   20).     The  Deluge  and  Prophecy  are 

Iirominent  in  both.     All  that  can  be  urged  under  this  head  may  be  seen  in 
'rofessor  Lumby's  papers  in  the  Expositor,  iv.  372,  446. 
-  i.  1,  13,  H,  15,  16-18;  iii.  1,  1.5. 
'  A  certain  literary  difficulty  is  shown  by  the  incessant  repetition  of  words, 


Strmige  Phrases.  463 

But  while  it  is  easy  to  borrow  certain  plirases,  it  is 
supremely  difficult  to  assume  the  whole  individuality,  and 
style,  and  tone  of  thought  of  the  person  who  has  used  them ; 
and  the  style  of  the  Second  Epistle  is  stamped  with  a 
separate  individuality  of  its  own,  and  abounds  in  expressions 
so  unusual  that  it  is  difficult  to  regard  them  as  being  other 
than  eccentricities  of  language.  If  St.  Peter  wrote  the 
Second  as  well  as  the  First  EjDistle,  how  is  it  that  in  the 
earlier  letter  we  find  nothing  analogous  to  such  terms  as  "  to 
acquire  faith  by  lot" ;  "giving  things  which  tend  to  life  and 
piety "  ;  "  greatest  and  precious  " ;  "  bringing  in  besides  all 
haste " ;  "  to  furnish  an  abundant  supply  of  virtue " ;  "  to 
furnish  an  abundant  entrance  "  ;  "  receiving  oblivion  " ;  "  the 
present  truth " ;  "  they  shall  bring  in  besides  factions  of 
perdition";  "the  judgment  is  not  idling,  the  destruction  is 
not  drowsily  nodding  "  ;  "  to  walk  behind  the  flesh  " ;  "  eyes 
full  of  an  adulteress"  ;  "  insatiable  of  sin"  ;  "a  heart  trained 
in  covetousness  " ;  "  the  mirk  of  the  darkness  " ;  "  treasure 
stored  with  fire  " ;  "  pits  of  gloom  "  ;  "  calcining  to  ashes  "  ; 
"  hurling  to  Tartarus  "  ;  "  blaspheming  glories  " ;  "  hurtlingly  "  ; 
"  to  the  day  of  the  age " ;  "  the  world  compacted  out  of 
water,  and  by  means  of  water  "  ;  ^  and  many  more.  Most  of 
these  depend  in  no  wise  on  the  peculiarity  of  the  subjects 
handled.  They  are  not  unique  terms  due  to  strange  matter, 
but  peculiarities  of  structure  wholly  different  from  the 
Apostle's  acknowledged  manner,  and  due  in  part  to  the 
writer's  difficulties  in  expressing  himself  in  an  unfamiliar 
language.  The  First  Epistle  is  smooth  and  flowing ;  but  the 
Second  is  full  of   rugged ness,  of  tautology,   and  of  phrases 


e.g.  i.    3,  4,  5ia  TTJy   iiriyvdjaeois.    .    .    Sta   So^rjs.    ,    .   Si'  SjV   i.  2,    3,    eTriy^/ojcns' 
ii.   1,2,  3,   airwKeia'  ii.  12,   cpdopd'  iii.  12,  13,  14  ;  irpoaSoKciu,  kc. 

^  Kaxovfft  niartv,  i.  1  ;  ra  irphs  C(iit)v  .  .  .  SeSwpr^/xei'ris.  i.  3  ;  fxiyicrra  ical 
■rijxia,  i.  4  ;  (nrov^T)v  iracrau  irapftcrevfyKavTes,  i.  5  ;  firixopr]yr]aaTe  Trjv  aperiiv, 
i.  5  ;  XT]Qr\v  Ka^wv,  i.  9  ;  iTrixopiiyndricreTOA  .  .  .  elauSos,  i.  11  ;  ?/  irapovaa 
aK-fideta,  i.  12  ;  irapeKrd^ovffLV  alpians  OTraiAeias,  ii.  1  ;  rh  Kplfxa  ovk  apyeT,  t] 
airdXeia  ov  vu(TTd^ei,  ii.  3  ;  ottiVco  ffapicSs,  ii.  10  ;  fxecrrovs  /j-otxa^tSos,  ii.  14  ; 
aKarairavcTTovs  kfiaprias,  ii.  14;  yeyv/xvacr/xfuiji'  TrKeove^lais,  ii.  Ii;  6  ^6(pos 
Tov  aKdrovs,  ii.  17  ;  l>oi^r\S6v,  kc. 


464  The  Catholic  Epistles. 

2  pETEi:.  wliicli  to  a  classical  Greek  ear  would — in  prose  writing  at 
any  rate — liave  sounded  little  short  of  grotesque. 

It  is  indeed  perfectly  possible  that  a  writer's  style  may 
differ  in  different  books  which  are  separated  from  each  other 
by  long  periods  of  years,  and  wide  differences  of  circum- 
j  stances.  It  is  thus  that  the  Judaic  tone  and  rough  style  of 
the  Apocalypse  is  modified  twenty  or  thirty  years  later  in 
the  Gospel  written  after  the  fall  of  Jerusalem  and  after 
long  years  si)ent  in  travels  among  the  Gentiles  and  in  the 
polished  capital  of  Ionia.  It  is  thus  that  the  Epistle  to  the 
Colossians  differs  from  the  Epistles  to  the  Thessalonians.  It 
is  thus  that  Plato's  Epinomis  differs  from  the  Laws;  and 
Virgil's  Ciris  from  the  Aencid ;  and  the  dialogue  of  Tacitus 
De  Oratorihos  from  his  Annals;  and  Twelfth  Night  from 
Hamlet ;  and  the  Paradise  Lost  from  the  Paradifse  Regained ; 
and  Burke  On  the  Suhlime  and  Bcaidifid  from  Burke  On  the 
French  Revolution.  But  if  both  the  Epistles  of  St.  Peter  are 
genuine,  we  know  that  they  were  written  under  similar  outward 
conditions,  and  within  a  year  or  two — at  latest — of  each  other. 

And  yet  differences  between  the  two  meet  ns  at  every 
turn.  The  "Peter"  of  the  First  becomes  "  Symeon  Peter " 
in  the  Second.  The  persons  addressed  are  different.  Christ's 
descent  into  Hades — so  capital  a  point  in  the  First — is  not 
so  much  as  alluded  to  in  the  Second,  even  in  passages  where 
it  would  have  been  specially  apposite.  In  the  First  St. 
Peter  shows  that  his  thoughts  are  full  of  Isaiah,  the 
Psalms,  the  Proverbs,  the  Ej)istles  to  the  Romans  and 
Ejjhesians,  and  the  Epistle  of  St.  James;  in  the  Second 
there  is  barely  a  single  allusion  to  any  of  these  ^vritings,  and 
if  two  passages  (ii.  22,  iii.  8)  be  quotations,  they  are  intro- 
duced in  a  wholly  different  way.  In  the  First  our  Lord  is 
usually  called  "  Christ,"  or  "the  Christ,"  or  "Jesus  Christ," 
in  the  Second  He  is  always  called  "  our  Lord,"  or  "  our  Lord 
and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ."  ^   Then  again  there  are  differences 

^  2cuT7?p  does  not  occur  in  the  First  Epistle.  Ki'pios  in  1  Pet.  is  only  applied 
to  Christ  in  ii.  3.     The  Second  Epistle  also  dillers  from  the  First  in  using  ^i' 


Differences.  465 

of  expressiou  as  regards  the  Second  Advent.  In  the  First  2  petek. 
it  is  called  the  "  Apocalypse,"  in  the  Second  the  "  Parousia  "  ■ 
(i.  16,  iii.  4),  or  "  Day  of  the  Lord  " ;  in  the  First  it  is  regarded 
as  near  at  hand,  in  the  Second  as  possibly  relegated  to  an 
indefinite  distance ;  in  the  First  it  is  regarded  as  the  glori- 
fication of  the  saints,  in  the  Second  as  the  destruction  of  the 
world.i  The  postponement  of  the  expectation  of  the  Second 
Advent  is  surprising  in  an  Epistle  which,  if  genuine,  must 
have  been  written  before  the  Apocalypse,  and  it  is  unlike  any 
other  passage  in  the  New  Testament.  Even  as  late  as  the 
days  of  Justin  Martyr  there  was  still  the  expectation  of  an 
immediate  return  of  Christ.^ 

Again,  in  the  First  Epistle,  the  writer  reveals  his  personality 
by  minute,  accidental,  unconscious  allusions ;  but  in  the 
Second  there  is  at  the  utmost  only  one  touch  of  this  kind, 
while  on  the  other  hand  the  writer  seems  anxious  to  establish 
his  identity  by  direct  assertions. 

Once  more,  in  the  First  there  is  constant  reference  to  the 
sufferings,  death,  resurrection,  and  ascension  of  the  Lord  ;  in 
the  Second,  where,  from  the  nature  of  the  subjects  handled, 
these  topics  might  have  been  expected  to  have  still  greater 
prominence,  there  is  not  a  single  allusion  to  them. 

Again,  the  tone  of  the  letters  is  obviously  different.  In 
the  first  it  is  full  of  sweetness,  mildness,  and  fatherly  dignity  ; 
in  the  second  it  is  anxious,  denunciative,  and  severe. 

Again,  even  the  keynotes  of  the  Epistles  are  very  markedly 
different.  The  keynote  of  the  First  is  hope  (i.  3,  iii.  15) ; 
that  of  the  Second  is  full  knowledge  (eTr^yvao-Ls:). 

Lastly,  there  is  the  peculiarity  that  the  false  teachers  are 

spoken  of  sometimes  as  future  (ii.  1 — 3,  iii.  8),  sometimes  as 

present  (ii.  10,  12,  13,  15,  17,  iii.  5,  &c.) ;  there  is  the  strange 

allusion  to  "  the  earth  compacted  out  of  water,  and  by  means 

pleonastically,  and  in  not  using  a  pleonastic  61  s.      Credner  in  his  Einhitung, 
Davidson,  &c.,  point  ont  many  otiicr  peculiarities. 

^  iii.  9,  10,  12.  In  otlicv  passages  of  the  New  Testament  the  Second  Advent 
is  not  identified  with  tin;  Day  of  Judgment. 

^  In  the  second  century  tliis  expectation  was  chiefly  retained  among  tho 
llontanists.— Baur,  First  Three  Centuries,  i.  247  ;  ii.  45  (E.  T.). 

H   H 


4<GG  The  Catholic  Epistles. 

of  water ; "  ^  and  there  are  phrases  which  wear  an  obvious 
appearance  of  comparative  modernism.  Such  are  "your 
Apostles "  (iii.  2) ;  the  description  of  Mount  Hcrmon  as 
"  the  holy  mount ";  ^  the  phrase  "  since  the  fathers  "  (appa- 
rently the  earliest  generation  of  Christians)  "  fell  asleep," 
which  seems  to  mark  an  age  later  than  that  of  Peter;  the 
recognition  of  St.  Paul's  collected  Epistles,  and  the  placing 
them  (in  a  manner  quite  unparalleled  in  the  New  Testament) 
on  a  level  with  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament. 

But  there  is  more  even  than  this  to  awaken  some  mis- 
giving. It  is  the  unprecedented  relationship  of  a  large  sec- 
tion of  this  letter  to  the  Epistle  of  St.  Jude,  and  the  all  but 
certainty  that  it  is  a  copy  from,  not  the  original  of,  that 
peculiar  and  half- apocalyptic  letter. 

The  "  impious  persons  "  of  St.  Jude,  and  the  "  false  teachers  " 
of  St.  Peter  are  described  by  exactly  the  same  characteristics, 
pictured  by  the  same  metajDhors,  compared  to  the  same  Old 
Testament  offenders,  warned  by  the  same  examples,  threatened 
with  the  same  retributions.  But  the  writer  of  this  Epistle  is 
less  impetuous,  more  elaborate  and  restrained.  He  omits,  he 
modifies,  he  softens.  He  seems  to  be  writing  from  vivid 
memory  of  what  St.  Jude  has  said,  but  without  the  Epistle 
actually  before  him,  so  that  sometimes  he  has  been  as  it  were 
magnetised  only  by  the  sounds  of  the  words  rather  than  by 
the  words  themselves.  Thus  for  St.  Jude's  "  sunken  reefs  " 
(spiladcs)  he  substitutes  the  more  natural  metaphor,  but 
similar-sounding  word,  "  spots "  (spiloi) ;  and  for  St.  Jude's 
unique  "  love  feasts  "  {agapais) — a  word  which  might  have 
suggested  many  en-oneous  notions — he  uses  the  word  deceits 
(apatais).  Again,  for  St.  Jude's  impossible  "  clouds  without 
water"  he  has  the  more  accurate  "founts  without  water." 
For  the  lyrically  bold  expression  "  chains  (seirais)  of  darkness," 

^  Tliia  verse  (iii.  5)  seems  to  imply  not  only  the  notion  of  Thales  that 
water  was  the  CAtj,  the  material  cause,  but  also  that  it  was  the  iiistrumcnlal 
cause  of  the  world. 

"^  In  the  New  Testament  there  is  no  other  instance  of  this  reference  to 
localities  as  "holy." 


Relation  to  Jiide.  467 

suggested  to  St.  Jude  by  passages  in  the  Book  of  Enoch,  he  2  peter. 
substitutes  the  less  daring  phrase  "  pits  (seirois)  of  darkness." 
He  prefers  not  to  touch  on  such  dubious  matter  as  the  hists 
of  angels,  and  the  dispute  of  Michael  and  Satan  about  the 
body  of  Moses.  He  omits  St.  Jude's  double  allusions  to  a 
particular  form  of  Levitic  pollution.  He  sets  aside  St.  Jude's 
quotations  from  the  apocryphal  Book  of  Enoch  and  the  "  As- 
sumption of  Moses,"  and  to  the  latter  he  gives  an  ingenious 
turn  which  seems  intended  to  remind  us  of  the  well-known 
scene  in  the  Book  of  Zechariah  (iii.  1,  2).  In  general  he 
treats  with  consummate  judgment  the  burning  material  before 
him,  but  in  one  or  two  passages  his  tacit  reference  to  what 
St.  Jude  has  said  leaves  his  own  language  obscure.  Thus  he 
speaks  of  the  teachers  "  for  whom  the  mirk  of  the  darkness 
has  been  reserved  for  ever,"  without  adding  to  it  the  vivid 
comparison  of  them  to  "  wandering  stars,"  which  had  added 
so  much  picturesque  force  to  the  earlier  expression.  In 
ii.  10  he  says  (with  the  abruptness  which  marks  other  parts 
of  the  Epistle),  "  Daring,  self-willed,  they  tremble  not  when 
they  rail  at  glories,  in  cases  wherein  angels,  greater  though 
they  are  in  strength  and  might,  do  not  bring  against  them  " 
[the  "glories"  before  spoken  of]  "a  railing  judgment."  Here 
all  is  obscure.  Tliere  is  nothing  at  all  to  show  who  the 
"  glories  "  are,  or  that  by  the  Avord  is  meant  a  fallen  angel, 
who  even  in  his  fall  is  not 

"Less  than  Arcli angel  rained,  or  excess 
Of  glory  obscured." 

It  is  only  when  we  turn  to  the  parallel  passages  of  St.  Jude, 
and  see  that  the  original  reference  was  to  Michael  and  Satan 
that  we  are  at  all  able  to  fathom  the  allusion.  In  the  next 
sentence  again  we  find  a  curious  turn,  for  which  we  could 
hardly  be  able  to  account  if  we  had  not  St.  Jude's  words 
lying  before  us.  St.  Jude  says  quite  intelligibly  (verse  10) 
"  These  rail  at  all  things  which  they  know  not  (ovk  otSaai)  ; 
but  all  the  things  which,  like  the  reasonless  animals,  they 
understand  naturally  {<pucnKa)<;),  in  these  they  corrupt  them- 

H  n  2 


468  The  Catholic  Epistles. 

2  PETER,  selves "  (or  are  destroyed,  (pOecpovrac).  The  writer  of  this 
Epistle  says,  "  But  these,  as  reasonless  natural  {(f)vcrtKa) 
animals,  born  for  capture  and  destruction,  railing  in  things 
of  which  they  are  ignorant  (uyvoovaL),  shall  Le  destroyed 
{Kara^dapi}aovrai)  in  their  own  destruction  (or  corruption 
<f>0opa)."  It  is  clear  that  he  remembered  some  of  St.  Jude's 
words,  but  has  given  to  the  sentence  a  form  which  by  no 
means  explains  itself.  There  is  a  sort  of  antanaklasis  or  play 
on  the  double  meaning  of  cf>dopa  (corruption  and  destruction), 
but  the  pregnant  moi  al  warning  and  coherence  of  St.  Jude's 
sentence  has  in  great  measure  disappeared.  The  words  are 
partially  identical,  but  the  force  of  them  has  in  great  mea- 
sure evaporated,  and  the  meaning  is  at  once  different  and 
very  inferior. 

But  even  now  we  have  not  exhausted  the  perplexing  facts 
which  must  be  taken  into  account.  Dr.  Abbott  has  recently 
pointed  out  for  the  first  time  a  series  of  parallels  between  this 
Epistle  and  passages  in  the  Antiquities  of  Josephus,^  such 
as  occur  in  no  other  book  of  Scripture,  and  such  as  cannot  be 
accounted  for  except  on  the  supposition  that  one  of  the  two 
writers  had  seen  the  work  of  the  other.  Now,  if  the  writer 
of  this  Ej)istle  had  read  Josephus,  he  could  not  have  been 
St.  Peter,  for  the  Antiquities  were  not  published  earlier  than 
A.D.  93,  long  after  St.  Peter  was  dead.  On  the  other  hand, 
it  is,  to  say  the  least,  curious  that  this  Epistle  should  h-ave 
fallen  into  the  hands  of  Josephus,  and  should  in  some  passages 
have  exercised  an  influence  over  a  style  which  shows  no  trace 
of  influence  from  the  First  Epistle,  or  from  any  other  book 
of  the  New  Testament. 

No  one,  I  think,  who  has  carefully  examined  all  the 
evidence,  of  which  I  shall  here  only  give  the  merest  sketch, 
can  doubt  as  to  the  conclusion  that  Josephus  and  this  writer 
cannot  have  written  independently  of  each  other.     The  proof 

^  Dr.  Abbott's  papers  were  published  in  the  Expositor,  Jan.  1882.  "While 
fully  admitting  the  itiijiortance  of  his  discoveries,  I  disagree  witli  Dr.  Abbott 
entirely  in  his  vrry  slighting  estimate  of  the  Kpistlc.  My  reply  to  this  was 
also  published  in  the  Expositor. 


2  Peter  and  JosepJms.  469 

depends  on  the  identity  in  both  writers  (1)  of  nine  or  ten 
words  which  occur  nowhere  else  in  the  LXX.  or  New  Testa- 
ment ;  ^  (2)  in  the  use  of  groups  of  words  in  close  juxtaposi- 
tion ;  1  and  (3)  in  the  occurrence,  among  these  words,  of  some 
very  peculiar  conceptions.^ 

Thus,  in  the  Proem  to  his  Aniiqitities,  Josephus,  quite  in 
his  natural  style,  says  that  Moses  thought  it  right  to  consider 
"the  divine  nature"  (deov  (f>v(Tt<i),  without  which , he  could 
not  promote  the  "  virtue  "  of  his  readers ;  that  other  legis- 
lators "following  on  the  trade  of  their  myths,  transfeiTed  to 
the  gods  the  shame  of  their  human  sins,"  but  Moses,  having 
shown  that  "  God  icas  ^possessed  of  -perfect  virtue"  thought 
that  men  should  strive  after  virtue ;  and  that  the  Laws  of 
Moses  contain  nothing  contrary  to  the  greatness  (jiey(iKei6Tr)<i) 
of  God. 

In  this  passage  the  peculiar  expressions  which  are  unknown 
to  the  Old  Testament  and  the  LXX.  arise  quite  spontaneously 
from  the  nature  of  the  subject.  The  same  can  hardly  be 
said  of  the  similar  passages  of  this  Epistle.  In  i.  4  the 
writer  speaks  of  "  greatest  and  precious  promises  "  {eTrayyeX- 
fxara)  given,  that  by  them  we  may  be  "partakers  of  the 
divine  nature"  (i.  4).  In  i.  16  he  speaks  of  "following  after 
cunningly  elaborated  myths"  {aearo(f)t(rfievoi^  fivOoL<i  i^uKoXov- 
6i](TavTe<;),  and  of  the  "  greatness  (fieyaXeiorr]';)  of  Christ.  In 
i.  3  he  says  that  God  "called  us  by  His  own  glory  and 
virtue."  Now  the  word  "  virtue "  is  very  rare  in  the  New 
Testament.  It  only  occurs  in  Philippians  iv.  8,  and  in  this 
passage.  The  ideal  of  the  New  Testament  is  not  virtue,  but 
lioliness.  It  is  so  astonishing  to  find  "  virtue  " — the  cold, 
lower,  human  ideal  of  virtue,  as  distinct  from  righteousness 
and  holiness — ascribed  to  God,  that  the  strangeness  of  the 
phrase  has  actually  frightened  the  Authorised  translators  into 
the  impossible  mistranslation,  "  who  hath  called  us  to  glory 

^  Among  these  words  and  phrases  are  ^pa^vriis  (iii.  9,  as  applied  to  Divine 
rptributioii)  ;  ^  KaKws  iroie'ire  irpoffixovres  (i.  19) ;  XJiOffv  \a$ci)V  (i.  9) ; 
(rTTovS^v  irapfio-fftyKavres  (i.  5)  ;  Karaffrpotpri  KareKpivtv  (ii.  6)  ;  IffSrtftov  (i.  1)  ; 
indyysKua  for  (TrayytXia  (i.  4)  ;  aiaofpiafiivos  (i.  16)  ;  iKirakai  (ii,  3). 


470  The  Catholic  Eiy'istles. 

and  virtue."  And  yet  in  Josephus  the  attribute  explains 
itself,  for  lie  has  been  led  by  the  nature  of  his  subject  to 
speak  of  a  God  of  virtue  in  contrast  with  the  vicious  deities 
of  heathen  mythology.^ 

When  again  we  find  in  Josephus's  account  of  the  last  words 
of  Moses  seven  or  eight  phrases  which  scarcely  occur  else- 
where in  the  sacred  writings,  including  some  so  marked  as 
"departure"  for  "death"  (i.  15),  and  "the  2^'rcsent  truth" 
(i.  12),  there  can  be  no  doubt  left  that  such  resemblances  are 
more  than  accidental. 

It  may  serve  to  illustrate  the  features  of  the  Epistle  if  we 
take  a  single  passage. 

After  appealing  to  the  voice  of  which  "we  (emphatic) 
heard  hor7ie  {ivexOelaav)  from  heaven,  when  we  were  with 
Him  in  the  Holy  Mount,"  the  writer  adds : 

"And  we  have  the  prophetic  word  (made)  more  sure, 
whereto  ye  do  well  in  taking  heed,  as  unto  a  lamp  shining  in 
a  squalid  place,  until  the  day  dawn,  and  the  daystar  arise 
in  your  hearts ;  knowing  this  first,  that  no  prophecy  of  Scrip- 
ture is  of  private  interpretation.  For  no  prophecy  was  ever 
Irought  {rjvexdrj)  by  the  will  of  man,  but  men  spake  from 
God,  being  home  along  {j^epoiievot)  by  the  Holy  Ghost  " 
(i.  19—21). 

In  this  passage  we  have  the  emphatic  "  we  "  ;  the  phrase 
"  the  Holy  Mount,"  applied  to  the  Mountain  of  the  Trans- 
figuration which  is  nowhere  else  so  called ;  the  thrice- 
repeated  verb  "  to  be  borne  or  carried  along,"  implying 
impetuous  spiritual  utterance  or  influence;  and  besides  this 
we  have  direct  parallels  to  three  writers,  Josephus,  Philo,  and 
the  author  of  the  Fourth  Book  of  Esdras.  "  Ye  do  well  in 
taking  heed  "  is  found  in  Josephus,^     "  A  lamp  shining  in  a 

^  It  is  true  that  in  1  Pet.  ii.  9,  we  find  2ir£os  tos  iperas  e^ayyelKijre  rod  (k 
(tkStovs  vfias  Ka\ead.vros,  k.t.\.  But  even  if  the  reference  there  be  to  God,  and 
not  rather  to  Christ,  the  parallel  is  purely  accidental  and  deceptive.  For 
uperr)  means  virtue,  but  aperal  has  no  such  meaning.  It  is  a  pluralis  cxceU 
lentum  and  means  excellences  (as  in  K.  V.;  "  praises,"  A.V.),  and  is  merely  a 
translation  of  the  Hebrew. 

^  2  Pet.  i.  If),  (^  KaKws  TToiflTi  7rpo(T«xo«'Tts.  Jos.  Antt.  xi.  6,  §  12,  ols 
irotijatTf  Ka\a>s  /xi]  -npoaixovris. 


Not  a  Translation.  471 

squalid  place  "  is  found  in  Esdras  ;  ^  and  the  unusual  word     2  i-eter. 
"  to  be  borne  along,"  as  applied  to  prophecy  is  found  in  a 
passage  of  Philo,  together  with  the  words  "  private,"  "  day- 
star,"  and  "dawn." 2 

What  then  are  we  to  say  respecting  this  accumulation  of 
abnormal  phenomena  ? 

It  would  indeed  be  perfectly  easy  to  offer  a  speciously  plausi- 
ble account  of  many  of  them  singly,  but  I  doubt  whether 
the  confluence  of  so  many  points  which  require  defence  or 
explanation  can  fail  to  leave  an  uncertain  impression.  Even 
the  supremely  improbable  hypothesis  that  the  Epistle  is  a 
translation  from  the  Aramaic  helps  us  very  little.  In  tlie 
Second  Epistle  of  Timothy  we  are  certainly  reading  the  last 
words  of  St.  Paul,  It  is  impossible  to  be  equally  assured 
that  in  this  Epistle  we  are  reading  the  last  words  of  St. 
Peter.  It  still  remains  just  possible  that  we  are  reading 
thoughts  to  which,  though  not  wholly  penned  by  himself,  he 
lent  the  sanction  of  his  name  and  authority. 

But  whether  it  be  genuine,  or  only  partially  and  indirectly 
genuine,  or  only  expressive  of  thoughts  such  as  St.  Peter 
might  and  would  have  used,  we  must  dismiss  from  our 
minds  all  the  connotations  of  the  words  "forger"  and 
"  plagiarist."  "  Pseudepigraphy,"  and  the  free  use  of  previous 
writers,  was  common  in  antiquity.  Pseudej)igraphy  in  many, 
perhaps  in  most,  cases,  neither  did  deceive,  nor  was  intended 
to  deceive,  the  readers  who  were  originally  addressed.  It 
was  only  a  well-understood  literary  form  to  give  imaginary 
weight  to  a  writer's  thoughts  by  placing  them  under  the 
assumed  shadow  of  a  great  authority.  Whatever  be  the 
ultimate  verdict  respecting  the  direct  authenticity  of  the 
Second  Epistle  of  St.  Peter,  it  will  remain  to  the  end  of 
time  a  writing  full  of  instruction,  which  is  undoubtedly  supe- 
rior to  all  the  writings  of  the  second  and   third    centuries. 

1  "  For  yon  have  sui-vived  to  us  from  all  prophets,  as  a  lamp  in  a  dark 
place." — 4  Esdr.  xii.  42. 

2  eeo^6p7]Tos,  <poi(r<p6pos,  'iSios,  avariWei  .  .  Philo,  Quis  rcr.  div.  hacr.  p.  52. 
This  parallel  is  pointed  out  by  Dr.  Abbott. 


472  The  Catholic  Fjnstles. 

2  I'F.TER.  It  has  come  down  to  us  from  the  Apostolic  age.  It  does 
not  touch  on  a  single  specific  feature  of  the  later  and  more 
elaborate  systems  of  Gnosticism.  It  shows  no  trace  of  the 
ecclesiastical  organisation  or  the  ecclesiastical  spirit  which 
■were  so  rapidly  developed  after  the  death  of  the  Apostles. 
Whatever  be  its  peculiarities,  it  expresses  thoughts  of  which 
many  are  akin  to  those  of  St.  Peter,  and  worthy  of  the  great 
Apostle ;  and  on  the  ground  of  its  intrinsic  value  we  thank- 
fully acquiesce  in  the  decision  of  the  Church  Councils  which 
assigned  to  it  a  place  in  the  New  Testament  canon.  "  In  all 
parts  of  the  Epistle,"  says  Calvin,  "  the  majesty  of  the  spirit 
of  Christ  displays  itself." 


Outline  of  the  E2nstle.  473 


NOTE    I.  2  PETER. 

OUTLINE   OF  THE   EPISTLE. 

1.  Greeting,  i  1,  2  ;  into  wliich.  is  introduced  the  keynote  of  iniyi>c»(Tis 
"full  knowledge." 

2.  Exhortation  to  the  attainment  of  this  full  knowledge  (i.  3-11), 
which  he  makes  the  more  urgently  from  the  certainty  that  his 
end  is  near  (12-15),  and  as  a  witness  of  the  Transfiguration  he  can 
give  them  a  testimony  (16-18),  which  is  rendered  yet  more  sure 
by  inspired  prophecy  (19-21). 

3.  Warning  against  false  teachers,  who  are  described  in  the  same  man- 
ner as  by  St.  Jude  (ii.  1-22).  Special  warning  against  those  who 
scoffed  at  the  second  coming  of  Christ, — who  are  reminded  that,  as 
the  world  once  perished  by  water,  it  shall  hereafter — though  it  may 
be  ages  hence — perish  by  fire  (iii.  1-10). 

4.  Exhortation  founded  on  this  longsuffering  of  God  (11-14)  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  teaching  of  St.  Paul,  the  difficulties  of  wliose 
Epistles  have  been  perverted  by  many  (10-16). 

5.  He  repeats  his  warning  (^vXao-o-ea^e)  and  his  exhortation  (av^dvere 
iv  xapi-Ti  Koi  yvai(Tfi),  and  ends  with  a  brief  benediction  (17,  18). 

It  is  an  Epistle,  therefore,  of  mingled  exhortation  and  warning. 
Its  keynote  is  knowledge  and  full  knowledge  in  contradistinction  to 
"cunning  myths"  (i.  16)  and  "feigned  words"  (ii.  3). 


THE   FIRST  EPISTLE  OF   ST.  JOHN.^ 

WRITTEN    PERHAPS   IN   PATMOS,   circ.   A.D.   97. 


"This  is  he  who  lay 
Upon  the  bosom  of  our  Pelican  ; 
This  he  into  whose  keeping  from  the  Cross 
The  mighty  charge  was  given." — Dante,  Farad,  xxv. 

"  Sumtis  pennis  aquilae  et  ad  altiora  festinans  de  Verbo  Dei  disputat." — Jer. 
ad.  Matt.  Prooem. 

"  Transcendit  nubes,  transcendit  vu'tutes  coelorum,  transcendit  angelos,  et 
Verbum  in  Principio  reppcrit." — Ambkos.  Prol.  in  Luc. 

"Aquila  ipse  est  Joannes,  sublimium  praedicator,  et  lucis  internae  atque 
aeternae  fixis  oculis  contemplator." — Aug.  in  Joann.  Tr.  36. 


INTRODUCTOEY. 


Although  this  Epistle  resembles  a  theological  treatise  and 
a  religious  homily,  it  was  yet  evidently  intended  as  an 
encyclical  letter.  The  words  "  I  write "  {rypd^ay,  and  the 
epistolary  aorist  'i'ypa-^a)  occur  thirteen  times ;  the  words 
"  to  you,"  "  you,"  occur  thirty-six  times  ;  "  my  little  children  " 
(T€Kvia,  TraiBia)  six  times  ;  "  beloved  "  six  times.  The  uncon- 
strained style,  the  informal  transitions,  the  mingled  exhorta- 
tions, all  show  that  it  is  a  letter.  At  the  same  time  it  is  the 
most  abstract  and  impersonal,  the  most  independent  of  place 
and  time  and  circumstance,  of  aU  the  writings  in  the  New 
Testament. 

^  Dr.  Westcott,  whose  edition  of  the  Epistles  of  St.  John  I  had  not  the 
advantage  of  seeing  till  these  pages  had  been  written,  calls  it  "  a  Pastoral." 


Gospel  and  Epistle.  475 

It  is  extremely  probable  that  it  was  meant  to  accompany  i  juiix. 
copies  of  the  Gospel  as  an  appendix  to  it  and  a  practical 
commentary.  "  The  Gospel,"  says  Hoffmann,  "  seeks  to  deepen 
faith  in  Christ;  the  Epistle  sets  forth  the  righteousness 
which  is  of  faith."  Apart  from  the  Gospel,  neither  the  pro- 
logue nor  other  parts  of  the  Epistle  could  have  been  easily 
understood.  It  seems  to  assume  throughout  in  all  readers  a 
familiarity  with  the  order  of  thought  (e.g.  respecting  "  witness," 
"  the  Truth,"  "  the  Word,"  Communion,  Life,  Light,  &c.)  with 
which  the  whole  Gospel  is  occupied.  Above  all,  the  passage  about 
the  Spirit,  the  water,  and  the  blood  (v.  6-8)  would  have  been 
absolutely  unintelligible  to  readers  who  had  not  received  a 
clue  to  the  meaning  in  John  xix.  34. 

There  are  fully  thirty-five  parallel  passages  in  the 
Gospel  and  the  Epistle.  In  the  Gospel  we  see  the  origin 
of  various  thoughts  ;  in  the  Epistle  they  are  generalised  and 
practically  aj^plied.  The  Gospel  gives  us  the  historic  manifes- 
tation of  the  Word ;  the  Epistle  shows  how  that  manifestation 
bears  on  Anti-Christian  errors  and  Christian  lives. 

The  notion  that  it  was  addressed  either  "  to  Parthians  "  or 
"  to  Virgins "  (compare  Revelation  xiv.  4)  may  be  dismissed 
as  due  to  some  clerical  error  or  some  inexplicable  blundering ;  ^ 
but  whether  Parthians  (Ildpdov^)  and  Virgins  (Ilap06i'ov<;) 
have  been  confused  together,  or  whether  either  word  has  any 
connection  with  Pathmios  (dwellers  in  Patmos),  is  only  a 
matter  of  conjecture.  There  can  be  little  doubt  tliat  the  letter 
was  addressed,  like  the  Apocalypse,  to  the  Churches  of  Asia, 
in  which  St,  John  for  the  last  thirty  years  of  his  life  exercised 
so  preponderant  an  influence. 

The  Epistle  derives  special  interest  from  the  circumstance 
that  it  is  practically — perhaj^s  even    absolutely — the    latest  'ZH^Ouylr  X  '^3 1 
utterance  of  Apostolic  inspiration.  "rKiuJ. 

The  Fall  of  Jerusalem  had  entirely  changed  the  conditions 

1  Bede,  Prol.  ad.  Ep.  CaLh.  attributes  this  assertion  {ad  FartJms)  to  Atha- 
nasius,  and  we  find  a  similar  statement  in  Idacius  Clarus  and  Aur^ustiiie 
(QiiMest.  Evang.  ii.  39).  Upbs  ndpOovs  is  found  in  some  late  cursive  MSS.  of 
the  Second  Epistle. 


^76  The  Catholic  Epistles. 

of  the  Church.  The  Gospel  had  been  spread  far  and  wide. 
The  liberty  of  the  Gentiles,  for  Avhich  St.  Paul  had  battled  all 
his  life,  was  now  established.  The  prerogative  influence  in 
the  Church  had  passed  from  Jerusalem  and  the  followers  of 
St.  James  to  Ephesus  and  the  followers  of  St.  John.  Such 
controversies  as  those  about  circumcision,  and  clean  and  unclean 
meats,  had  passed  away.  No  one  dreamed  any  longer  that  it 
was  necessary  for  a  man  to  become  a  rigid  Jew  before  he  could 
become  a  perfect  Christian.  The  questions  which  now  occu- 
pied men's  minds,  even  in  the  bosom  of  the  Church  (ii.  18), 
were  different  and  far  more  abstract.  They  were  questions 
about  dogmatic  truth.  They  turned  chiefly  on  the  nature  of 
Christ.  St.  John's  witness  combats  at  every  turn  the  dawn- 
ing spirits  of  heresy  and  error. 

Was  Christ,  as  the  Ebionites  believed,  a  mere  man  ?  (iv.  2  ; 
li.  22,  &c.) 

Was  the  suffering  Jesus  to  be  separated,  as  Cerinthus  held, 
from  the  sinless  Christ  ?  (1  John  v.  6 ;  Epiphan.  Hacr.  xxviii. 
1  ;  Iren.  Hacr.  iii.  9,  3). 

Was  His  human  IHe,  as  Docetists  pretended,  a  mere 
phantasmal  semblance  ?  (v.  C). 

Was  evil  an  eternal  attribute  of  matter,  as  the  incipient 
Llanichean  Gnostics  began  to  whisper  ? 

W^as  there  no  real  distinction  between  the  moral  and  cere- 
monial law  ?  or,  as  Nicolaitans  and  Antinomians  asserted,  did 
faith  and  knowledge  emancipate  men  from  moral  obhgations  ? 
(1  John  ii.  4J  Clem.  Alex.  Strom,  iii.  4,  31  Iron.  Hacr.  i.  6,  2). 
Since  such  questions  were  already  beginning  to  be  discussed 
the  dangers  with  which  St.  John  had  to  deal  were  not  assaults 
from  enemies  without,  but  false  types  of  orthodoxy  and  false 
types  of  goodness  which  were  springing  up  within  the 
Church. 

St.  John  met  such  heretical  tendencies,  not  by  Pauline 
dialectics,  for  which  he  was  wholly  unsuited  by  nature  and 
temperament,  but  by  the  lofty  tone  of  inspired  authority,  and 
the  presentation  of  positive  truths  in  sharp  contrast  to  nascent 


Finality.  477 

error.  On  all  doubts  and  difficulties  "  Christ's  own  eagle,"  as 
Dante  called  him,  seemed  to  gaze  downwards  as  from  a 
supreme  height.  To  him  history  is  the  invisible  translated 
into  the  visible.  "  The  central  characteristic  of  his  nature  is 
intensity.  He  sees  the  past  and  the  future  gathered  up  in  the 
presentation  of  the  Son  of  God.  He  had  no  laboured  process 
to  go  through;  he  saw.  He  had  no  constructive  proof  to 
develop;  he  bore  witness.  His  source  of  knowledge  was 
direct,  and  his  mode  of  bringing  conviction  was  to  affirm."  ^ 

To  St.  John  the  central  object  of  all  faith,  the  supreme 
counteraction  of  all  unbelief,  is  the  Word  made  Flesh  ;  com- 
munion with  Him,  and  with  the  Father  through  Him,  and 
with  all  mankind  in  Him,  is  Eternal  Life,  and  all  life  apart 
from  this  communion  is  not  life  but  death. 

Oporin,  the  first  theologian  who  gained  the  credit  of  seeing 
and  demonstrating  the  consecutive  and  systematic  character 
of  this  Epistle,  showed  much  insight  when  he  named  his 
tract  De  constantcr  tenenda  communione  cum  Poire,  et  Filio.  ^ 

"The  Word  was  God."  "The  Word  became  Flesh." 
"  Without  Him  was  not  anything  made  that  is  made." 
These  Avords,  as  Haupt  says,  constitute  the  signature  of  the 
Johannean  writings.  The  theme  of  the  Epistle,  says  Dr. 
Westcott,  is  "  the  Christ  is  Jesus,"  the  theme  of  the  Gospel 
IS  "  Jesus  is  the  Christ." 

There  is  something  in  the  supreme  and  authoritative  finality 
of  St.  John's  utterances  which  seem  to  solve  all  antinomies. 
Contradictions  find  their  harmonious  synthesis  in  sublimest 
truths.  The  controversy  about  Faith  and  Works,  for  instance, 
disappears  in  such  words  as  "  He  that  doeth  righteousness  is 
righteous,  even  as  He  is  righteous."  The  controversies 
between  Jews  and  Gentiles  are  merged  in  the  unity  of  the  one 
Church,  which  is  the  antithesis  to  tlie  World.  All  difficulties 
about  forensic  and  sacrificial  aspects  of  the  Atonement  ai-e 
lost  in  the  simple  sentence,  "  The  Father  sent  His  Son  to  be 

^  Westcott,  St.  John,  Speaker's  Comment,  p.  xxxv. 

2  Joachim  Oporinus  Joannis  Ep.  c  nodis  interprctum  lihcrata,  1741. 


478  Tlie  Catholic  Ejnstles. 

the  Saviour  of  the  world."  In  the  region  of  the  Idea  there 
is  no  room  for  jarring  conflicts.  This  Epistle,  with  the  Gospel, 
sets  the  final  seal  to  Revelation. — It  does  so 

a.  In  its  teaching  about  Eternal  Life,  as  a  state,  not^n 
extension  of  time  ;  as  an  etliical  condition,  not  as  an  endless 
continuance.  "  The  horologe  of  earth,"  as  Bcngel  said,  "  is 
no  measure  for  the  aeonologe  of  heaven."  St.  John  does  not 
mention  "Heaven"  in  his  Epistles.  Heaven  is  the  true 
Christian's  eternal  Now.  "  The  road  to  heaven  lies  through 
Heaven,  and  all  the  way  to  Heaven  is  Heaven." 

/3.  In  its  teaching  about  the  Word. 

7.  In  the  teaching  about  God.  "  God  is  righteous."  "  God 
is  Love."     "  God  is  Light." 

h.  In  the  simplification  of  the  essentials  of  Christian  truth. 
St.  John  moves  in  the  sphere  of  a  few  ultimate  verities.  He 
is,  in  the  highest  sense,  a  mystic,  a  realist.  With  him  ideas 
are  the  only  Realities.  Universalia  ante  rem  is  the  principle 
of  his  philosophy. 

St.  Paul  is  discursive,  St.  John  is  intuitive.  St.  Paul  deals 
with  Justification,  St.  John  with  Life.  St.  Paul  is  human 
and  practical,  St.  John's  divine  realism  is  mainly  occupied 
with  the  abstract  conceptions  of  Love,  and  Life,  and  Light. 

There  is  no  clue  to  the  date  of  the  Epistle  beyond  the 
certainty  that  it  was  written  after  the  Fall  of  Jerusalem,  and 
at  a  period  when  the  Church  was  free  from  persecution.  This 
would  point  to  some  time  before  a.d.  95,  or  between  the  per- 
secutions in  the  reigns  of  Domitian  (a.d.  95)  and  of  Trajan 
(A.D.  98).     Ewald  suggests  A.D.  90. 


The  First  Epistle  of  St.  John.  479 

THE  FIRST  EPISTLE  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

"And  these  things  write  we  unto  you  that  j'our  joy  maybe  full."— 1  John 
i.  4. 

The  Epistle  of  St,  John  differs  greatly  from  most  of  the 
other  Epistles,  There  is  in  it  nothing  of  the  passionate  per- 
sonal element  of  St,  Paul's  letters  ;  none  of  the  burning  con- 
troversy, of  the  subtle  dialectics,  of  the  elaborate  doctrine,  of 
the  intense  appeal.  Nor  has  it  anything  of  the  stately 
eloquence  and  sustained  allegorising  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews ;  nor  does  it  enunciate  the  stern  rules  of  practical 
ethics  like  St.  James ;  nor,  again,  does  it  throb  with  that 
storm  of  moral  indignation  which  sweeps  through  the  Epistles 
of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Jude.  Its  tone  and  manner  are  wholly 
different.  It  was  written  under  different  circumstances,  and 
at  a  later  time.  In  St.  Paul  we  can  rarely  lose  sight  of  the 
fact  that  Christians  are  in  a  double  world  of  deadly  antagon- 
ism— partly  Jewish,  partly  Pagan.  In  St.  John  neither  Jew 
nor  Pagan  is  so  much  as  mentioned ;  their  distinctive  hostility 
to  the  Church  has  melted  into  the  one  dark  background  of 
"  the  world."  The  Church  is  older,  more  instructed,  more 
conscious  of  herself.  It  was  the  task  of  the  other  Apostles 
to  plant ;  it  is  the  task  of  St.  John  to  water ;  it  was  theirs  to 
teach,  it  is  his  to  remind  ;  it  was  theirs  to  lay  the  foundations, 
it  is  his  to  build  the  superstructure.  His  recurring  formula 
is  "ye  know,"  "we  know,"  "that  ye  may  recognise;"  and 
he  says  to  them  that  he  has  not  written  to  them  because  they 
know  not  the  truth,  but  because  they  know  it;  nay,  he  even 
tells  them  that  they  have  an  unction  from  the  Holy  One, 
and  know  all  things. 

Why  then  does  St.  John  thus  write  to  remind  them  of 
truths  which  they  had  been  already  taught  ?  what  was  the 
general  object  of  his  first  Epistle  ? 


1  JOHN. 


480  The  Catholic   Ejnstles. 

On  that  question  we  need  have  no  doubt,  for  he  twice  tells 
us.  He  tells  us  once  at  the  beginning  of  the  Epistle,  where 
he  says  that  he  declares  unto  them  that  which  they  have 
heard,  and  seen,  and  handled  of  the  Word  of  life — of  Christ, 
the  life  of  the  Father  manifested  unto  us — in  order  that  he 
and  they  alike  might  have  fellowship  in  the  Father  and  the 
Son,  and,  so,  that  their  joy  might  be  full.  Again,  at  the 
close  of  the  Epistle  he  says  that  his  object  was  that  they 
might  know  that  they  had  eternal  life,  and  might  believe  on 
the  name  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  have  confidence  that  God 
hears  every  prayer  which  is  in  accordance  with  His  will.  To 
give  full  joy ;  to  impart  unshaken  confidence, — confidence  in 
God's  love,  joy  in  the  present  possession  of  eternal  life ;  to 
show  that  Eternal  Life  is  in  Christ  Jesus  and  can  only  be 
realised  by  union  with  Him — such  Avas  the  grand  purpose  of 
the  Evangelist;  and  the  Ejjistle  fails  in  its  object  if  it  does 
not  impart  to  us,  as  to  his  first  readers,  some  share  at  least  in 
that  unshaken  confidence,  that  perfect  joy. 

But  besides  this  grand  general  motive,  St.  John,  like 
the  other  Apostles,  was  induced  to  write  by  special  motives. 
We  find  these  special  motives  in  the  two  passages  (ii.  18  ;  iv.  sq.) 
about  antichrist,  and  in  the  last  warning  to  his  spiritual  children 
to  keep  themselves  from  idols.  The  immediate,  or  the  worst, 
peril  of  the  Churches  of  Asia  did  not  arise  from  Jewish 
malice  or  Pagan  violence,  but  from  inward  error  and  corrup- 
tion ;  their  enemy  was  not  the  open  Satan  of  Judaism  or 
Heathendom,  but  the  disguised  Satan — the  Satan  transformed 
into  an  angel  of  light — of  idle  speculations.  Now  in  St. 
John's  view  the  victory  of  the  Christian  over  evil  depended 
solely  on  his  confessing  Christ,  on  his  believing  Christ,  on 
his  thus  gaining  fellowship  with,  and  therefore  reflecting,  the 
life  of  Christ.  The  belief  that  the  life  of  the  Christian  is  a 
life  "  in  Christ,"  that  each  true  Christian  is  a  member  of  His 
body,  a  branch  of  His  Vine,  a  stone  on  His  foundation,  which 
was  the  heart  of  the  theology  of  St.  Paul,  was  no  less  the 
heart  of  the  theology  of  St.  John.     But  St.  John  saw  with 


St  John's  Method.  481 

alarm  that  there  were  some  who  were  taking  away  his  Lord,  i  joiin. 
substituting  for  Him  another  Lord  altogether ;  one  who  was 
not  perfectly  man,  or  was  not  truly  God.  And  these  foes 
were  within,  not  without  the  walls ;  men  who,  not  denying 
but  simulating  holiness,  were  introducing  the  spirit  of  the 
world  into  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven,  the  spirit  of  darkness 
into  the  sphere  of  light.  These,  then,  are  the  immediate 
dangers,  which,  so  late  in  life,  when  he  was  already  an  old 
man,  first  led  St.  John  to  break  his  long  silence  and  to  write, 
as  he  expressed  it,  with  paper  and  ink. 

And  how  does  he  deal  with  them  ? 

i,  St,  John  meets  the  heresies  of  his  day  by  the  assertion,  not 
of  speculative,  but  of  practical  truths.  He  does  not  complain 
of,  he  does  not  theorise  about,  the  antagonism  of  the  world  to 
the  Church,  or  of  Antichrists  to  Christ,  He  simply  men- 
tions and  accepts  them  as  facts.  He  does  not  argue,  he  ^  f 
testifies;  Jie_dpes_jiot  jdejipunce  _ error,  he  teaches  truth.  .  . 
There  is  the  kingdom  of  Satan — darkness,  sin,  death;  and 
over  against  it  is  the  Kingdom  of  God,  which  is  Light, 
Righteousness,  Life.  He  has  no  theory  as  to  how  this 
kingdom  of  Satan  began ;  he  has  no  express  statement  as  to 
how  it  will  end.  Enough  for  him  that  it  began  before,  and 
independently  of,  the  creation  of  man  ;  enough  for  him  that 
because  God  is  God,  it  cannot  permanently  triumph.  St, 
John  is  what  would  be  called  a  Realist,  He  sees  things  only 
in  the  light  of  great  ideas.  He  regards  individual  men  and 
particular  actions  only  as  they  are  affected  by  those  ideas. 
The  Church  and  the  world  are  to  him  exhaustive  antitheses. 
He  does  not  even  stop  to  define  what  righteousness  is,  or 
what  love  is  ;  he  only  lays  down  the  broad  general  principles  ; 
oil  details  will  be  learnt  easily  if  the  great  principles  reign  in 
the  hearts  of  Christians.  The  weapon  which  he  puts  into 
their  hands  for  their  eternal  warfare  is  the  ennoblement  of 
their  interior  life.  He  sets  before  his  Churches  a  work  so 
high,  a  love  so  warm,  as  may  leave  them  no  heart  for  idle 
controversies.     The  object,  then,  of  the  Epistle  is  to  check 

I  I 


482  The  Catholic  Epistles. 

1  JOHN.  the  subterranean  growth  of  error  by  the  statement  of  practical, 
eternal,  universal  truth — even  by  declaring  the  life  which  has 
been  manifested  in  Christ,  and  has  overflowed  upon  all  His 
people,  the  life  which  alone  matures  our  fellowship  with  God 
and  with  man. 

ii.  Such  is  his  theme,  and  such  his  method.  And  what  is 
the  tone  which  he  adopts  ?  The  main  point  about  it  is  that  it 
is  memorably  tranquil  and  peaceful.  There  is  in  it  no  trace 
of  excited  vehemence.  The  sternness  and  passion  indeed  of 
the  Son  of  Thunder  shows  itself  in  the  intense  sharpness,  the 
awful  decisiveness,  of  that  line  of  ideal  severance  which  he 
draws  between  the  kingdoms  of  light  and  darkness.  He 
speaks  of  every  sin — even  the  slightest — as  essentially 
Satanic.  Yet,  strange  to  say,  under  this  breastplate  of  dog- 
matic inflexibility  we  can  feel  the  beatings  of  the  human  heart 
of  love.  We  trace  the  Apostle  of  Love,  the  bosom  disciple, 
him  who  played  with  the  little  partridge,  and  won  back  with 
tears  the  youthful  robber,  and  laid  his  head  on  Jesus'  breast. 
Even  over  the  Alpine  summits  of  his  ideal  holiness  there 
breathes  "  a  breath  of  most  pathetic  and  most  inward  affection, 
from  a  spirit  overflowing  with  love,  and  strong  in  peaceful  rest." 
In  reading  the  Epistle  it  is  beautiful  to  see  this  consummate 
repose  in  the  presence  of  Satanic  hatred ;  this  infinite  serenity 
amid  the  noises  and  agitations  of  the  Church  and  of  the 
world.  He  regards  the  world,  it  has  been  said,  without 
wonder  and  without  sorrow.  It  is  but  a  transient  semblance. 
Crux  stat,  orhis  volvitur.  Heretics  spoke  of  Christ  as  a 
phantom  ;  it  is  the  World  which  is  the  phantom,  Christ  is  the 
only  reality.  St.  Paul  in  the  conflict  with  error  bursts  into 
plain  thunderings  and  lightnings ;  St.  Peter  "  flings  himself 
back  with  an  energy  of  love  into  the  days  when  he  had  lived 
with  the  Son  of  Man,  and  forward  with  an  energy  of  hope 
into  the  days  of  His  perfected  kingdom ; "  St.  Jude,  breaking 
into  passionate  invective,  calls  the  heretics  filthy  dreamers, 
waterless  clouds,  withered  trees,  raging  billows,  wandering 
stars  ;  but  St.  John  seems  merely  to  fix  his  intense  gaze  on 


Gospel  and  Epistle.  483 

Him  whom  he  had  seen,  as  He  was  on  earth,  and  whom  he 
hoped  to  see,  as  He  is,  in  heaven.  He  speaks  the  language 
not  only  of  a  father  to  his  children,  but  of  a  soul  at  peace 
with  God,  of  a  soul  which  lives  in  the  Eternal.  His  accents 
are  as  of  a  glorified  saint  speaking  to  men  from  a  higher 
world.  Just  as  the  Epistle  of  the  imprisoned  Paul  to  the 
PhiHppians  overflows  with  loving  joy,  so  the  words  of  St.  John 
breathe  a  serene  tranquillity,  born  like  the  fragrance  of 
night  flowers,  of  darkness  and  trouble.  The  exile  of  Patmos 
is  as  one  who,  standing  on  the  shore,  sees  the  ships  toss 
indeed  in  the  storms  and  billows  of  the  offing,  yet  knows 
that  they  are  moored,  by  anchors  sure  and  steadfast,  to  the 
eternal  rock.  Hence  comes  it  that  his  thoughts  are  so  trans- 
parent, so  ingenuous ;  unfathomable  even  to  the  deepest 
thinker,  yet  intelligible  even  to  the  little  child.  All  this 
makes  it  very  probable  that  the  letter  was  -written  in  the 
seclusion  of  the  little  rocky  islet,  which  he  may  often  have 
visited,  and  that  it  was  sent  to  Ephesus  to  accompany  the 
Gospel,  Avith  which  it  is  essentially  one  in  tone  and  doctrine. 
The  fundamental  thought  of  both  is  that  Jesus  is  the  Word 
of  God,  the  Son  who  revealed  the  idea  of  the  Father.  In  the 
Gospel  we  have  the  historic  testimony  to  those  fundamental 
facts  by  which  the  revelation  of  God  has  been  introduced  into 
this  earthly  life  ;  in  the  Epistle  it  is  shown  how,  on  the  ground 
of  these  truths,  the  life  of  individual  men  may  be  strengthened 
by  confidence,  and  filled  with  joy.  The  truth  which  he  has 
thus  stated  thetically,  i.e.  as  revealed  in  fact,  is  here  stated 
antithetically,  i.e.  in  opposition  to  theoretic  errors.  And  thus 
St.  John  is  removed  immeasurably  above  the  vulgar  style  of 
religious  controversy.  He  is  too  near  the  Great  White 
Throne  to  be  agitated  by  the  existence  of  heresy;  he  is  far 
too  sure  in  his  grasp  of  truth  to  mix  it  up  with  hostile 
ambitions,  or  personal  dislikes.  He  had  arrived  at  that  stage 
in  which 

*'  Love  is  an  unerring  light, 
And  joy  its  own  security." 

I  I  2 


1  JOHN. 


484"  The  Catholic  Epistles. 

1  JOHN.    We  may  say  of  St.  John  as  the  poet  says  of  the  raised 
Lazarus : 

"  Whence  had  the  man  the  balm  that  brightens  all  ? 

He  holds  on  firmly  to  some  thread  of  life 
"Which  runs  across  some  vast  distracting  orb 
Of  glory,  on  either  side  that  meagre  thread, 
Which,  conscious  of,  he  must  not  enter  yet, 
The  spiritual  life  around  the  earthly  life. 

This  is  the  man  as  harmless  as  a  lamb  ; 
Only  impatient,  let  him  do  his  best, 
At  ignorance,  and  carelessness,  and  sin — 
An  indignation  which  is  promptly  curbed. ' ' 

St.  John's  love  came  from  the  source  to  which  he  would 
direct  us  for  ours.  He  loved  man  and  he  loved  God,  hecause 
he  loved  Him  who  was  the  Son  of  Man  and  the  Son  of  God. 
"  By  loving  Him  we  learn  to  love  all  men  with  unfeigned 
love ;  not  with  the  transient  precarious  love  which  comes  and 
goes,  comes  while  good-will  is  shown  us,  and  goes  directly 
ill-will  and  disfavour  meets  us  ;  not  with  the  feeble  love 
which  is  extinguished  by  the  first  evil  word,  blown  away  by 
the  first  injury;  not  with  the  self-righteous  love  which  will 
love  none  but  the  good,  the  excellent,  the  perfect ;  but  with 
that  love  wherewith  God  first  loved  us.  .  .  Where  this  love 
dwells — a  love  which  at  the  same  time  is  joy  in  the  Lord — 
there  the  heart  never  freezes  nor  withers.  It  remains 
perpetually  young,  for  the  glow  of  eternal  life  streams 
through  it."^ 

"  St.  John's  point  of  view^  is  in  many  respects  new  and  final. 
To  St.  James  the  salvation  brought  by  Christ  presented  itself 
under  the  form  of  an  accomplished  work ;  to  St.  Peter  under 
that  of  a  promised  glory ;  to  St.  Paul  it  was  a  righteousness 
secured ;  to  St.  John  it  was  life  in  full  possession.  Work, 
glory,  righteousness,  life — these  four  things  are  included  in 
the  salvation  which  Christ  offers  to  the  world.  We  may 
almost  say  that  they  exhaust  its  contents,  nor  is  it  possible 
to  possess  one  of  them  without  in  some  measure  possessing 
all.  Yet  in  the  personal  aspirations  and  past  history  of  the 
'  Bishop  Jlourad,  of  Denmark,  The  World  of  Prayer. 


Method  of  the  Epistle.  485 

individual  man  tliere  may  be  that  which  predisposes  him  to 
receive  the  whole  through  the  medium  of  one  of  these 
elements  rather  than  another.  And  Providence  willed  that 
the  four  chosen  men,  who  by  their  writings  were  to  transmit 
the  salvation  in  its  totality  to  all  the  world,  should  each  of 
them  perceive  it  under  one  of  these  four  characters,  which  in 
their  combination  constitute  its  fulness." 

"  Paul  fixed  his  eye  on  righteousness  accorded  to  faith. 
John  on  life  found  in  communion  with  God.  Thus  these  two 
Apostles  disengaged  themselves  more  completely  than  the 
other  tAvo  from  their  Jewish  past.  To  James  and  Peter 
salvation  in  Christ  was  a  flower  yet  folded  in  the  bud.  To 
Paul  and  John  a  flower  opened  wide,  and  the  fruit  forming 
within  the  flower." 

We  have  seen  the  general  and  the  special  object  of  this 
beautiful  Epistle — its  practical  aim,  its  calm  tone,  its  positive 
method — it  only  remains  to  say  a  few  words  as  to  its  plan 
and  outline.  In  the  old  traditional  way  in  which  for  ages  the 
Bible  has  been  dealt  with,  this  Epistle  has  been  treated  as 
though  it  had  no  order  or  method.  "  He  is  going  to  say 
much,"  says  St.  Augustine,  "  and  almost  all  about  love." 
"  The  main  substance  of  this  Epistle,"  says  Luther,  "  relates 
to  love."  "  It  contains,"  says  Calvin,  "  doctrine  with  exhorta- 
tions, but  in  no  continuous  order;  he  especially  insists  on 
brotherly  love,  but  touches  also  briefly  on  other  things."  But 
on  the  contrary,  so  far  is  this  Epistle  from  being,  as  some 
have  said,  aphoristic,  or  a  series  of  loosely  connected  thoughts, 
that  you  will  find  in  it  steadily  worked  out  from  the  first 
verse  to  the  last  the  thought  of  man's  brotherhood  to  man, 
resulting  from  man's  fellowship  with  God,  and  both  rendered 
possible  by  the  revelation  of  God  in  Christ.  The  fundamental 
theme  of  the  Epistle  is  communion  with  the  Father  and  the 
Son  as  the  source  of  love  to  our  brethren.  You  will  easily 
trace  also  a  threefold  division  in  the  Epistle.  Three  times 
St.  John  warns  against  error ;  three  times  he  bases  the  refu- 
tation of  all  error,  and  the  possibility  of  all  holiness,  on  some 


486  The  Catholic  Ejnstlcs. 

deep  utterance  respecting  the  nature  of  God.  The  thoughts 
interlace  one  another — the  predominant  melody  of  one  section 
is  heard  by  anticipation  in  the  undertones  of  the  others — but 
the  divisions  are  discernible,  and  there  are  three  distinct 
movements  in  the  general  music. 

i.  Thus  the  first  two  chapters  are  dominated  by  the  melody 
of  the  grand  utterance  that  God  is  Light ;  not  the  light  ol 
earth,  which  is  but  His  garment  and  His  shadow,  but  its 
eternal  prototype — 

•'  Holy  light,  offspring  of  heaven  firstborn, 
Bright  fiilueiice  of  bright  essence  uncreate 
Whose  fountain  who  shall  tell  ?" 

And  since  this  Light  of  God  is  all-i^ervading,  all-illuminating, 
therefore,  where  ignorance,  darkness,  sin,  and  falsehood  are, 
there  God  is  not ;  and  where  God  is  there  is  truth,  goodness, 
purity.  Hence  they  who  are  in  communion  with  God  must 
of  necessity  be  walking  in  the  light — in  the  light  of  sin  for- 
given; in  the  light  of  hdliness  sincerely  loved,  and  ever 
more  and  more  attained. 

ii.  And  the  next  great  utterance,  in  the  last  verse  of  the 
second  chapter,  is  that  God  is  righteous.  This  definition, 
mingled  with  the  truths  that  He  is  our  Father,  that  we  are 
born  of  God  and  have  confessed  Christ,  and  that  this  con- 
fession is  possible  only  through  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  and 
therefore  that,  ideally,  unrighteousness  is  impossible  to  us  as 
God's  true  children,  dominates  through  the  next  chapter.  Of 
this  section  the  one  great  lesson  is  that  we  are  bound  to  right- 
eousness by  the  very  law  of  our  being,  and  that  thereby  we 
gain  the  blessing  of  confidence,  and  the  knowledge  that  God 
abideth  in  us. 

iii.  The  third  section,  which  begins  at  iv.  7,  turns  on  the 
divine  truth  that  God  is  love.  As  the  colours  of  the  rainbow 
melt  imperceptibly  into  one  another,  and  are  not  to  be 
divided  one  from  the  other  by  sharp  lines,  so  this  thought 
has  already  been  lending  its  glow  and  colour  to  the  last 
section ;  but  it  is  only  in  the  grand  utterance  that  God  is 


God  and  Idols.  487 

Love  that  it  bursts  into  its  own  full  and  proper  splendour. 
That  little  sentence  has  brought  to  the  world  more  sweetness 
than  all  the  world  can  bring  besides.  And  from  it  springs 
at  once  the  clear  truth  for  us  to  grasp,  and  the  certain  test 
for  us  to  apply,  that  every  offence  against  the  law  of  love  is 
a  sin ;  that  all  and  every  form  of  hatred,  whether  it  be  the 
serpent  glance  of  malice,  or  the  sidelong  look  of  envy,  or 
the  glare  in  the  murderer's  eye ;  whether  it  be  the  curse  of 
the  enemy,  or  the  lie  of  the  calumniator,  or  the  slander  of 
the  gossip ;  whether  it  be  the  detraction  of  the  Pharisee,  or 
the  anathema  of  the  inquisitor,  or  the  rivalries  of  the  par- 
tisan ;  whether  it  be  the  animosities  of  the  politician,  or  the 
jealousies  of  the  religionist,  all  and  every  form  of  hatred  is  a 
positive  proof  that  we  are  not  of  God  and  not  of  Christ. 
For  sinlessness  is  the  life  of  Christ,  and  sinlessness  means 
obedience  and  love.  God  is  Love.  When  the  Christ  for  us 
is  Christ  in  us  we  shall  know  the  meaning  of  that  truth. 
After  this  there  is  nothing  essential  to  add.  All  is  said. 
The  last  word  of  revelation  has  been  spoken. 

The  Epistle  simply  closes  with  a  swift  recapitulation,  ;«^hich 
is,  however,  enriched  with  new  elements,  and  ends  with 
perhaps  the  most  pregnant  exhortation  ever  uttered  :  "  Little 
children,  keep  yourselves  from  idols." 

Idols  still  exist.  Most  of  them  are  not  idols  instead  of 
God,  but  idols  set  up  as  though  they  were  God.  But  every 
true  Christian  must  fling  them  to  the  moles  and  to  the 
bats  !  Those  idols — not  material  idols,  but  eiho)\a,  vain  sub- 
jective images — idols  of  the  forum,  the  cavern,  and  theatre 
— which  would  represent  Him  as  a  God  of  arbitrary 
caprice,  making  Him  treat  men  as  though  they  were  mere 
dead  clay  to  be  dashed  about  and  destroyed,  or  made  and 
marred  at  His  will;  the  idols  which  would  represent  Plis 
justice  as  alien  from  ours,  or  things  as  being  good  in  Him  which 
would  be  evil  in  us ; — those  idols  are  shattered  on  the  Rock 
of  Truth  that  God  is  Righteous.  Idols  which  represent  Him 
as  one  who  delights  in  the  aggressive  ignorance,  self-satisfied 


488  The  Catholic  Epistles. 

narrowness,  and  bitter  exclusiveness  of  religionists  ;  as  making 
of  dull  and  acrid  bigots  His  sole  elect,  but  bating  the  brighter, 
bolder,  and  more  trustful  natures — as  though  He  loved  the 
jagged  thistles  and  dwarfed  bents  better  than  the  roseof  Sharon 
and  the  cedars  of  Lebanon — idols  of  the  sectarian,  idols  of  the 
fanatic,  idols  of  the  Pharisee,  idols  of  the  partisans  who  would 
label  themselves  as  the  only  Christians,  and  all  others  as 
infidels — are  shattered  by  the  ringing  hammer-stroke  of  the 
Truth  that  God  is  Light. 

Idols  which  represent  Him  as  living  only  a  life  "  turned 
towards  self,  or  folded  within  self  " — caring  only  for  His  own 
glory,  not  caring  for  the  creatures  He  has  made,  delighting  in 
the  smoke  of  unending  torments,  deaf  to  the  endless  shrieks 
of  an  unimaginable  agony,  burning  as  with  implacable 
wrath  against  little  deviations  of  opinion,  regarding  even 
the  sin  of  a  child  as  deserving  of  infinite  punishment,  be- 
cause though  the  child  be  finite  yet  He  is  infinite — the 
idols  of  many  a  schoolman,  of  many  a  theologian,  of  many 
a  priest — idols  of  the  zealot,  idols  of  the  ecclesiastic,  idols 
of  the  inquisitor,  who  think  that  their  wrath  can  work  the 
righteousness  of  God — these  are  dashed  to  pieces  by  the 
unlimited  force  of  the  truth,  that  God  is  Love. 

"Little  children,"  says  St.  John,  "keep  yourselves  from 
idols."  God  is  Light ;  God  is  Love  !  With  those  hammers 
of  the  word  dash  in  pieces  the  Ignorance  that  takes  itself 
for  Infallibility,  and  the  Hatred  that  forges  on  its  phylacteries 
the  signatures  of  Love. 

In  Himself  God  is  Light :  when  His  Light  disperses  itself 
in  colour,  it  is  the  Universe ;  when  it  passes  in  one  unbroken 
ray,  it  is  He  who  was  the  brightness  of  His  glory,  the  Eternal 
Son ;  reflected  upon  us,  it  is  the  self-communication  of  perfect 
love.  The  unfathomable  and  inconceivable  fulness  of  life 
which  is  implied  when  the  Evangelist  tells  us  that  God  is 
Light  is,  from  eternity  to  eternity,  existent  only,  manifested 
only  to  us,  under  the  modality  of  Love. 

God  is  Righteous,  and  therefore  what  is  morallv  revolting 


God  is  Love.  489 

cannot  be  theologically  orthodox,  what  is  morally  indefensible      i  john. 
cannot  be  commercially  ex^Dedient,  what  is  morally  wrong 
cannot  be  politically  right. 

God  is  Light,  and  therefore  folly,  and  ignorance,  and 
prejudice,  and  stupidity,  and  superstition  are  to  Him  alien 
as  children  of  the  darkness. 

God  is  Love,  and  therefore  cold  and  selfish  hearts  can  be 
none  of  His;  suspicion  and  hatred  are  but  unhallowed  in- 
cense laid  on  His  altars  ;  hands  which  are  presumptuous  and 
fierce  do  but  pollute  the  Ark  which  they  are  professing  to 
uphold.  God  is  Righteous  :  shall  we  be  mean  and  unjust  ? 
God  is  Light :  shall  we  love  the  deeds  of  darkness  ?  God  is 
Love :  shall  we  make  no  sacrifice  for  Him  who  has  done  so 
much  for  us  ? 

It  is  perhaps  the  very  last  utterance  of  revelation — "  Little 
children,  keep  yourselves  from  idols  1 " 


490  The  Catholic  Epistles. 


1  JoniT.  NOTE  L 

OUTLINE   OF   THE   EPISTLE. 

In  the  previous  discourse  I  have  spoken  of  the  Epistle  under  the  three 
heads  suggested  by  the  great  utterances,  God  is  Light,  God  is  Righteous, 
God  is  Love.  A  formal  analysis  of  the  Epistle  cannot,  however,  be 
made  under  these  heads.  Tliey  tlirow  light  on  the  order  of  thought, 
but  are  not  the  pivots  of  arrangement  in  the  writer's  mind.  Huther 
who,  at  De  Wette's  suggestion,  adopted  this  division  in  Meyer's  com- 
mentary, abandoned  it  in  his  second  edition.  Still  less  can  we  adopt 
Bengel's  divisions  made  with  reference  to  the  Trinity,  into  which  he  was 
misled  by  the  spurious  verse  about  the  Three  Heavenly  Witnesses. 
Certainly  the  Epistle  illustrates  the  famoiis  remark  of  St.  Augustine, 
Ubi  Amor  ihi  Trinitas  ;  but  the  reference  to  the  Trinity  belongs  to  the 
essence  of  the  subject,  not  to  the  writer's  intended  plan. 

The  Epistle  consists  of  an  Exordium  (i.  1-4)  ;  the  treatment  of  the 
subject  (i.  5-v.  12),  and  the  conclusion  (v.  13-21). 

The  general  outline  is  as  follows  : — 

Introduction  (i.  1-4) 

A.  ETERNAL   LIFE   MANIFESTED   BY  THE  WORD.' 

B.  ASSURANCE   OF   THIS  AS   A   CERTAIN   TRUTH. 

The  object  of  setting  it  forth  being  to  fulfil  the  joy  derived  by  the 
fellowship  with  God  and  with  one  another  of  which  it  is  the  ground. 

A.   ETERNAL   LIFE,   i.    5-V.    5. 

I.  The  evidence  that  we  have  Eternal  Life  is  Fellowship  with  God, 
demonstrated  by  Walking  in  the  Light ;    for   God  is   Light 
(i.  6-ii.  2). 
This  Walk  in  the  Light  must  show  itself, 

i.  Towards  God — by  freedom  from  sin  and   forgiveness  of 

past  sins  through  the  blood  of  Christ  (i.  6-ii.  2). 
ii.   Towards  man — by  brotherly  love  (ii.  3-13). 
iii.  Towards  the  icorld,  by  severance  from  it,  which  is  secured 
by  the   knowledge  derived    from  the   Spirit's  unction 
(ii.  15-27). 


Outline.  491 

II.  The  confidence  of  sonsliip  wliicli  springs  from  the  possession  of       1  jouk. 
Eternal  Life  (ii.  28-v.  5). 

1.  The  evidence  of  sonsliip  seen  in  conduct  (iii). 

i.  Towards  God,  by  righteousness  (iii.  1-10). 
ii.  Towards  man,  by  love  (iii.  11-18). 
iii.  Recapitulation  (19-23). 

2.  The  source  of  this  sonship,  the  Spirit  of  God,  who 

i.  Saves   us  from   false    spirits  by   teaching   us  to   confess 

(iv.  1-6),  and  thereby 
ii.  So  teaches  us  to  love  one  another  (7-12). 
iii.  Recapitulation  (14-16)  and  retrospective  conclusion  (17, 18). 
III.  Final  Illustrations. 

Love  and  Faith. 
a.  The   idea  of  love  embraces  love  both  to   God  and  man 

(iv.  19-21). 
/3.  The  idea   of  faith,  involves  love  both  to   God  and  man 

(V.  1-3). 
y.  And  this  is  victory  over  the  world  (v,  4,  5). 

B.    ASSURAKCE   THAT   ETERNAL   LIFE   IS   MANIFESTED   BY   THE  WORD 
(v.    6-12). 

i.  The  witness  of  God  (v.  6-9). 

ii.  The  witness  eclioed  from  within  (10-12). 

C.    CONCLUSION. 

a.  The  conscious  possession  of  Eternal  Life — Faith,  Assured 
Prayer,  Love  (v.  13-17). 

h.  The  signatures  of  sonship — sinlessness,  assurance,  commu- 
nion (18-20). 

c.  The  practical  aim  of  the  Epistle  (21). 
Professor  Westcott  arranges  the  Epistle  differently,  as  follows  : — 

INTRODUCTION    (i.    1-4). 

A.  The    Problem    of    Life,    and    those    to    whom    it    is    proposed 

(i.  5-ii.  17). 

B.  The  conflict  of  truth  and  falsehood  without  and  within  (ii.  18- 

iv.  6). 

C.  The  Christian  Life  ;  the  victory  of  faith  (iv.  7-v.  21). 

He  adds,  "  The  thought  of  a  fellowship  between  God  and  man,  made 
possible  and  in  part  realised  in  the  Christian  Church,  runs  through  the 
whole  Epistle.  From  this  it  begins  "  Our  fellowship  is  icith  the  Father, 
and  with  His  Son  Jesus  Christ"  (i.  3).  In  this  it  closes  :  "loe  are  in  Him 
that  is  true,  in  His  Son,  Jesus  Christ"  (v.  20). 


492  The  Catlwlic  Epistles. 


KOTE  II. 


Tlie  prevailing  triplicity  of  arrangement  is  equally  marked  in  the 
Epislle  and  in  the  Gospel.  Owing  to  the  Jewish  training  of  the  Apostle 
it  was  the  order  in  which  his  thoughts  naturally  grouped  themselves. 
Yet  though  the  Epistle  is  thus  obviously  written  by  a  Jew,  it  does  not 
mention  the  Jews,  nor  does  it  once  quote  the   Old  Testament. 

The  style  is  plain  ;  the  manner  contemplative.  The  sentences  have 
none  of  the  periodic  structure  of  classical  Greek,  but  have  an  Aramaic 
simplicity.  The  method  of  reasoning  has  been  called  "  cycloidal."  It 
flows  on  by  constantly  taking  up  the  chief  word  of  the  previous  clause 
{Anaj)hora).  The  words  are  easy  but  the  meaning  is  profound.  St. 
John  seems  to  think  in  antitheses  ;  and,  in  the  Aramaic  fashion,  often 
states  truths,  first  positively,  and  then  negatively.  Each  chief  word  is 
like  a  stone  flung  into  a  smooth  lake,  making  ripples  which  extend  to 
the  shore  in  concentric  circles,  and  these  circles  are  broken  and  inter- 
laced by  the  influence  of  other  words.  The  difficulty  of  understanding 
St.  John  is  due  to  the  depth  of  meaning  involved  by  his  use  of  ordinary 
■words  ;  his  causal  particles  are  often  puzzling,  but  in  his  constructions 
there  is  generally  no  difficulty  at  all. 


NOTE  III. 

SPECIAL   PASSAGES. 

ii.  6-11.  The  Commandment  both  new  and  old.  The  commandment 
"  Love  one  another  "  was  old  as  the  Gospel,  and  even  as  the  Old  Testa- 
ment; but  it  became  new  and  was  invested  with  a  new  significance  under 
the  circumstances  in  which  it  was  illustrated  and  renewed  by  Christ 
(John  xiii.  34,  35,  1-20). 

ii.  12-14.     A  six-fold  appeal  to  Christians. 

ii.  15-19.  Antichrist  and  Antichrists.  The  word  is  peculiar  to  St. 
John.  The  Antichrist  which  the  Church  had  now  to  dread  was  no 
longer  a  Roman  emperor,  but  the  spirit  of  Heresy. 

iii.  6.  Ideal  sinlessness. 

iii.  19,  20.  God  greater  Ihnn  our  hearts.  The  rendering  is  "We  shall 
assure  our  hearts  before  Him,  tvhcreinsoever  (on  iuv)  our  hearts  coudeum 


Special  Phrases.  493 

us,  because  God  is  greater  than  our  hearts ;"  or  else,  "  because,  if  our  hearts 
comlemu  us,  God  is  greater,"  omitting  the  second  on  with  some  MSS.,  or 
regarding  it  as  superfluous.  There  are  instances  in  Xenophon  and  other 
writers  of  a  second  ort  superlluoiisly  repeated,  but  in  these  cases  ort 
always  means  "  that "  not  "  because."  Another  way  of  accounting  for 
the  oTt  has  been  suggested  by  Dr.  Field  in  his  valuable  notes  {OHum 
Norvicense,  p.  127).  It  is  to  understand  SrjXov  (it  is  evident)  that  God  is 
greater  than  our  hearts.  He  quotes  two  instances  from  Chrysostom  in 
which  8ii\ov  is  thus  omitted  before  ort,  and  another  instance  in  1  Tim. 
vi.  7,  where  the  SrjXov  of  the  received  text  is  spurious,  but  must  be 
understood. 

iv.  3.  "Every  spirit  which  sereretJi  Jesus.  .  is  the  spirit  of  Anti- 
christ "  (reading  o  Xvet,  which  has  disappeared  from  the  MSS.,  but  existed 
in  ancient  MSS.,  and  is  so  quoted  by  Irenaeus,  Tertullian,  &c.).  If  this 
reading  be  right,  it  alludes  to  that  Antichristian  element  in  Gnosticism 
which  severed  the  one  person  of  Christ  by  isolating  either  the  Divine  or 
the  human  nature. 

V.  6-8.  He  who  came  by  means  of  icafer  and  hluod  (one  a  \ovTpov  and 
one  a  XiiTpov).  Christ  manifested  Himself  by  virtue  of  the  regenerating 
and  atoning  power  of  which  the  water  and  the  blood  were  symbols 
(John  xix.  34).  "  Why  water  1  Why  blood  1  Water  to  cleanse,  blood 
to  redeem." — Ambrose  {De  Sacr.  v.  1 ). 

v.  7.  The  spurious  verse  about  the  "  Three  that  hear  v/itness  in  heaven  " 
first  printed  (perhaps  from  an  ancient  marginal  note,  possibly  by  St. 
Cyprian,  which  had  found  its  way  into  Itith  century  MSS.)  in  the 
Complutensian  edition  of  1514.  It  was  unknown  to  the  Greek  Fathers, 
and  does  not  appear  in  a  single  ancient  version.  It  breaks  the  reasoning 
of  the  passage,  and  belongs  to  a  totally  different  order  of  ideas.  "  Let 
them  make  good  sense  of  it  who  are  able,  for  my  part  I  can  make  none." 
— Sir  I.  Newton. 

v.  16.  '■^  There  is  a  sin  unto  death:  I  do  not  saij  that  he  should  make 
request  for  that."  No  definite  sin  is  meant,  but  some  interior  quality 
(undiscernible  by  man)  of  sin  in  its  most  desperate  stage  ;  a  sin  which 
cannot  be  remedied  by  man's  prayer,  though  it  cannot  be  beyond  the 
reach  of  God's  mercy. 


NOTE  IV. 

GENUINENESS   OF  THE   EPISTLE. 

The  genuineness  of  the  Epistle  is  proved  by  overwhelming  external  evi- 
dence. It  was  "universally  acknowledged"  (Euseb.  Jer.),  and  is  referred 
to  by  Papias,  Polycarp,  and  Irenaeus.      It  is  mentioned  in  the  Muratorian 


494  The  Catholic  Epistles. 

1  JOHN.  fragment,  and  found  in  the  oldest  Syriac  and  Latin  versions.  Its  inde- 
pendent resemblance  to  tlie  Gospel  at  once  proves  that  it  is  by  the  same 
author. 

It  has  been  asserted  that  this  Epistle  differs  from  the  other  Johannine 
writings,  because, 

i.  It  speaks  of  the  approaching  end  of  the  world  (ii.  18,  "It  is  the  last 
hour  "),  whereas  the  Gospel  is  the  only  book  in  the  N.  T.  Avhich  does  not 
allude  to  this  subject.  There  is,  however,  no  real  disaccord.  The  allu- 
sion is  only  a  passing  one  and  need  imply  no  more  than  "  the  final  dis- 
pensation." The  writer  does  not  speak  of  the  personal  Antichrist  of 
Jewish  eschatology  (2  Thess.  ii.  3-12  ;  Rev,  xiii.-xix.),  but  heretical 
belief  is  to  him  the  Antichrist  (ii.  18-22  ;  iv.  3). 

ii.  He  applies  the  term  "  Advocate  "  (Paraklete)  to  Christ  (ii.  1),  not  as 
in  the  Gospel,  to  the  Holy  Spirit  (John  xiv.  16).  "Qui  i\\Q  different  offices 
of  "  Advocate  "  belong  alike  to  both  Persons  of  the  Blessed  Trinity. 

iii.  He  uses  the  word  "propitiation"  (tXa(r/ios),  which  occurs  here 
alone  in  the  N.  T.  (iv.  10).  But  this  word,  though  not  used  in  the 
Gospel,  belongs  to  the  ordinary  language  of  Christianity  (Luke  xviii.  13  ; 
Heb.  ii.  17  ;  Rom.  iii.  25),  which  expressed  the  relation  between  the 
death  of  Christ  and  the  pardon  of  man  by  this  among  other  metaphoric 
expressions  which  describe  the  results  of  Christ's  death  as  regards  our- 
selves, while  they  never  attempt  scholastically  to  explain  it  hi  reference 
to  God. 

iv.  He  uses  the  word  unction  (xpiV/ja),  ii.  30.  There  is  nothing  strange 
in  the  fact.  This  term  also  belonged  to  the  metaplioric  usages  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments  (2  Cor.  1.  21). 


THE  SECOND  AND  THIED  EPISTLES  OF  ST. 
JOHN. 

OF   UNCERTAIN   DATE. 

"  Amor  non   modo   verus    amor   est,    sed  veritate   evangelica  nititur." — 
Bengsl, 

"  Supersci'ipti    Joliannis    duas    in    catholica    liabentur."  —  Muratofjan 
Fragment. 


The  Second  and  Third  Epistles  of  St.  John  are  in  all  2  john. 
probability  specimens  of  the  free  and  unreserved  religious 
correspondence  which  in  all  ages  has  been  interchanged 
between  Christians.  In  St.  Paul's  letter  to  Philemon,  and 
in  these  short  missives,  we  have  the  first  extant  specimens 
of  letters  like  those  which  were  thenceforth  constantly  written 
by  religious  teachers.  They  begin  that  branch  of  literature 
which  has  been  subsequently  enriched  by  men  like  Basil, 
and  Gregory  of  Nazianzus,  and  Gregory  of  Nyssa,  and 
Jerome,  and  Augustine,  and  Gregory  the  Great,  and  Luther, 
and  Rutherford,  and  Cowper,  and  Wesley,  and  Robertson,  and 
Maurice. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  letters  are  genuine. 
There  would  have  been  no  adequate  reason  for  their  forgery. 
Their  leading  thoughts  are  so  fully  expressed  in  the  other 
writings  of  St.  John  that  they  contain  very  little  that  is 
original  or  that  possesses  any  independent  dogmatic  value. 
There  is  but  one  passage  in  each  Epistle  that  can  be  quoted 
as  distinctive  (2  John  10,  11 ;  3  John  9,  10),  and  out  of  the 
thirteen  verses  in  the  Second  Epistle  eight  are  to  be  found  in 


496  The  Catliolic  Epistles. 

2  JOHN,  llic  first.  They  are  chiefly  interesting  as  giving  us  a  glimpse 
of  Christian  correspondence  in  the  earliest  days.  It  may  be 
said  of  them,  as  the  Muratorian  Canon  says  of  St.  Paul's  letters 
to  Timotiiy  and  Philemon,  "  that  they  were  written  out  of 
private  affection,  and  yet  to  the  honour  of  the  Catholic 
Church." 

Their  brevity,  their  casual  character,  and  the  fact  that 
they  are  so  unmarked  by  characteristic  features,  accounts 
for  the  circumstance  that  they  were  comparatively  unknown 
in  the  early  Church.  Irenaeus,  however,  quotes  from  the 
Second  Epistle.  They  belong  as  Eusebius  says,  to  the  num- 
ber of  the  Antilegomena — the  writings  which  were  widely 
but  not  unanimously  accepted   as  genuine. 

In  the  school  of  Alexandria  they  were  quoted  by  Clemens, 
and  perhaps  commented  on  by  him  in  his  last  Avork,  the 
Hypotyposcs.  Origen  mentions  them  among  the  Antile- 
gomena but  does  not  quote  irom.  them.  Dionysius  of 
Alexandria  spoke  of  them  as  being  currently  assigned  to 
St.  John. 

In  the  school  of  Antioch  they  were  rejected  by  Theodore 
of  JMopsuestia,  and  are  not  noticed  by  Theodoret. 

The  Pseudo-Chrysostom  says  that  the  Fathers  reject  them 
from  the  canon  (aTroKavovL^ovrai).  Gregory  of  Nazianzus 
mentions  them  doubtfully.  They  were  not  translated  in  the 
ancient  Syriac  version,  the  Peshito,  but  were  received  in  the 
fourth  century  by  Ephraem  Syrus. 

TertuUian  does  not  quote  them,  nor  C3q3rian.  In  the 
LIuratorian  Canon  the  text  is  corrupt,  and  the  testimony 
somewhat  dubious.  St.  Jerome  received  them,  but  says 
that  there  were  very  many  who  attributed  them  to  a 
supposed  "  John  the  Presbyter." 

Perhaps  no  stronger  external  evidence  could  be  expected, 
and  internal  evidence  is  strongly  in  their  favour.  They 
abound  in  Johannine  phraseology,  which  yet  is  used  in  an 
independent  manner ;  and  they  show  the  singular  mixture  of 
sternness  and  tenderness  which  arose  from  St.  John's  habit 


Second  Fj^istle.  497 

of  looking  at  all  things  at   once    antithetically  and    in   the      2johx. 
ideal. 

The  analysis  of  the  Second  Epistle  is  very  simple.  After 
a  kindly  greeting  (1 — 8),  St.  John  expresses  to  "the  elect 
lady  "  his  joy  that  some  of  her  children  are  "  walking  in 
truth,"  and  then  enforces  the  new  and  old  commandment 
of  Christian  love  (5,  6),  which  is  all  the  more  necessary 
because  of  dangerous  antichristian  teachers  against  whom  the 
lady  is  warned  (7 — 9),  and  to  whose  errors  she  is  not  to  lend 
the  sanction  of  her  hospitality  or  greeting  (10,  11).  The 
Epistle  ends  with  the  expression  of  a  hope  that  the  Apostle 
may  soon  visit  her,  and  with  a  greeting  from  the  children  of 
her  Christian  sister  (12,  13). 

The  keynotes  of  the  little  letter  are  the  words  "  Truth,'* 
which  occurs  five  times,  and  "  Love,"  which  occurs  four 
times.  The  word  "  commandment "  is  also  repeated  four 
times,  and  "  walking  "  thrice. 

Besides  the  general  exhortation  to  Chiistian  faithfulness 
in  doctrine  and  character,  the  motive  in  the  letter  was  to 
warn  "  the  elect  lady "  not  to  welcom.e  or  to  be  misled  by 
"  deceivers  "  and  "  antichrists." 

The  occasion  of  the  letter  was  to  convey  the  kindly 
messages  suggested  to  the  Apostle  by  his  meeting  with 
the  lady's  sister,  and  some  of   her  children. 

Three  questions  are  suggested  by  the  letter  : — 

1.  Who  is  meant  by  "  the  Elder  "  ? 

2.  Who  is  "  the  elect  lady  "  ? 

3.  What  is  the  meaning  of  the  distinctive  message  in 
verse  10  ? 

1.  In  the  early  Church  there  was  a  vague  notion — perhaps 
originally  suggested  by  the  title  in  these  letters,  increased  by 
the  ambiguity  in  a  passage  of  Papias,  and  fixed  by  Dionysius 
of  Alexandria  and  a  remark  of  Eusebius  ^ — that  there  were  two 
great  religious  teachers  in  Ephesus  at  the  close  of  the  first 
century,  John   the  Presbyter  and   John   the  Apostle.     The 

^  Euseb.  H.  E.  iii.  25  :  eXre  koI  irfpov  ojxwvvixov  iKfiv(f. 

K    K 


498  The  Catholic  Epistles. 

2  JOHN.       subject  is   not  without   difficulties,  but    I    have   elsewhere 
given  reasons  for  believing  that  tliis  "  nebulous  Presbyter," 
this  "  spectral  duplicate  "  of  St.  John  had  no  real  existence, 
and  that  "John  the  Presbyter"  was  none  other  than  "John 
the  Apostle  "  himself. 

Without  again  entering  into  the  controversy  I  may  say 
that  in  the  famous  passage  in  which  Papias  gives  us  an 
account  of  his  oral  sources  of  information  there  is  nothing 
to  show  that  "  John  "  and  "  the  Presbyter  John  "  mean  two 
different  persons.  The  contrast  is  not  between  two  persons, 
but  between  what  he  heard  second-hand  as  being  stated  by 
St.  John  and  what  he  heard  from  his  own  lips.  As  he  calls 
other  Apostles  (Andrew,  Philip,  Matthew,  Peter),  by  the 
name  "  elders,"  in  the  previous  clause,  there  is  no  reason 
(except  such  as  arose  from  his  own  confused  and  simple 
style)  to  assume  that  he  meant  another  John  when  he  speaks 
of  "  John  the  elder."  The  general  meaning  of  the  passage  of 
Papias  in  telling  us  how  he  composed  his  book  is  that,  "  he 
used  to  inquire  about  the  discourses  of  the  elders,  what 
Andrew,  or  Philip,  or  John,  or  Matthew  said,  or  any  one  of 
the  Lord's  disciples ;  and  to  take  notes  of  what  Aristion  and 
John  the  Elder  say."  The  testimony  which  he  derived  from 
John — the  Apostle,  the  Lord's  disciple,  the  Elder — was  two- 
fold :  (a)  reports  of  his  conversation  furnished  by  others,  and 
(/3)  his  own  "living  and  abiding  voice."  Eusebius  knew 
and  states^  that  Papias  had  been  an  actual  hearer  of  John 
the  Apostle,  and  if  he  and  others  were  anxious  to  believe  that 
there  was  also  another  John — John  the  Elder — it  was  because 
they  disliked  the  Apocalypse,  and  wished  to  find  another  John 
who  might  have  written  it. 

Dionysius  of  Alexandria  was  avowedly  influenced  by  this 
motive  and  supported  his  view  by  the  fact  that  "  some  said 
that  there  were  two  tombs  in  Ephesus,  each  of  which  was 
called  the  tomb  of  John." 

*  Early  Days  of  ChrMianity,  ii.  553-586. 
'  j4p.  Euseb.  H.  E.  iii.  sq. 


The  Elder  teas  the  A^jostle.  499 

Thus,  then  (1)  we  have  a  confused  passage  of  Papias ; 
(2)  the  guides  at  Ephesus  had  duplicate  sites  for  the  tomb 
of  John ;  (3)  Dionysius,  writing  about  the  middle  of  the 
third  century,  when  John  had  been  at  least  a  century  and  a 
half  in  his  grave,  conjectured  from  this  circumstance  that 
there  were  perhaps  two  Johns ;  (4)  Eusebius  half  inclines  to 
accept  the  conjecture  : — that  is  literally  all  the  evidence  we 
possess  to  show  that  there  was  any  "  John  the  Presbyter " 
as  apart  from  John  the  Apostle  !  The  fathers  had  the  work 
of  Papias  in  their  hands  and  there  is  scarcely  one  of  them, 
either  Greek  or  Latin,  who  is  even  for  a  moment  misled  by 
the  specious  suggestion  of  Dionysius  and  the  bolder  implica- 
tion of  Eusebius. 

But    why  does  St.  John  call  himself  "  The  Elder "  ? 
The  term  has  three  meanings. 
a.  It  is  used  to  express  the  dignity  of  age. 
/9.  It  is  used  to  express  the  office  of  a  Presbyter. 
7.  It  is  used,  especially  by  Papias  and  by  later  writers  who 
refer  to  him,  to  describe  the  latest  survivors   among   those 
who  had  been  the  actual  Apostles  or  disciples  of  Christ. 

The  retiring  character  of  St.  John  led  him  entirely  to 
suppress  his  name  in  the  Gospel  and  Fii'st  Epistle.  In  the 
private  letters  he  was  naturally  compelled  to  describe  himself, 
but  instead  of  choosing  the  high  title  of  "  Apostle,"  which  it 
was  not  necessary  for  him  as  it  was  necessary  for  St.  Paul  to 
claim,  he  calls  himself  "the  Elder  "  in^aU  three  of  the  senses 
mentioned  above.  He  was  a  Presbyter  by  office,  just  as 
St.  Peter  calls  himself  the  fellow-Presbyter  of  those  to  whom 
he  wrote  (1  Peter  v.  1) ;  he  was  an  Elder  by  age  just  as  St. 
Paul  calls  himself  "  Paul  the  aged  "  ;  ^  and  he  was  the  last 
survivor  of  "  the  Elders "  who  could  say  "  I  have  seen  the 
Lord."  The  title  was  humble,  but  on  the  lips  of  St.  John 
it  connoted  a  position  of  exceptional  dignity;  on  the  other 
hand  it  would  have  been  presumptuous  for  a  mere  Elder  to 


'  Philera.  9.     But  there  b  irpffffiirrjs  may  mean  tbe  ambassador. 

K   K   2 


500  The  Catholic  Epistles. 

2  JOHN.       vnitc  as  "  the  Elder  "  as  though  he  had  any  special  title  to  a 
then  universal  designation. 
2.  Who  is  the  Elect  Laily  ? 

'  ^i''73  V*"  ."i^The  text  is  not  absolutely  certain,  but  the  best  supported 

i.  eSl-Uo  ft-"  reading  is  rj/  e/cXe/cr^  Kvpia. 

\ ,  r^  i.  Athanasius    says,   "  he   is   writing   to    Kyria   and    her 

children."  Can  we  then  render  it  "  to  the  elect  Kyria "  ? 
There  was  such  a  name  as  Kyria,  for  it  is  found  in  an  in- 
scription, and  it  might  be  a  Greek  form  of  the  Hebrew 
"  Martha."  But  St.  John  would  then  (almost  certainly)  have 
Avritten  not  "  to  the  elect  Kyria "  but  "  to  Kyria  the  elect."^ 
Further  than  this,  in  verse  5,  "  I  beseech  thee,  Kyiia,"  would 
have  been  a  most  unusual  mode  of  address. 

ii.  Clement  of  Alexandria  understood  it  to  mean  "  to  the 
lady  Eclecta."  He  says,  "  It  was  written  to  a  Babylonian 
lady  named  Eclecta."  But  in  this  case  verse  13  ought  to 
mean,  "  The  children  of  thy  sister  Eclecta  greet  thee,"  and  both 
sisters  could  hardly  have  had  the  same  name.  The  name 
Eclecta  does  not  seem  to  occur  anywhere,  and  further  St.  John 
would  then  have  written  "  to  Eclecta  the  lady  "  ('E/cXe/cr,^  t^ 
Kvpla). 

iii.  The  rendering  therefore,  "  to  the  Elect  lady  "  is  correct. 
But  is  the  letter  addressed  (a)  to  a  lady ;  or  (/3)  to  a  Church 
called  by  this  title ;  or  (7)  to  the  Church  in  general  ? 

7.  That  the  letter  is  addressed  to  the  Church  in  general 
(though  suggested  by  Jerome,  who  fantastically  referred  to 
Cant.  vi.  9  LXX.),  may  be  dismissed  at  once.  It  is  rendered 
impossible  by  verse  13. 

^.  The  notion  that  a  single  Church  is  addressed  is  suggested 
by  (Ecumenius  and  Theophylact,  and  adopted  by  Huther, 
Ewald,  Wordsworth,  and  many  modern  editors.  It  is  supported 
by  a  reference  to  the  uncertain  allusion  in  1  Peter  v.  13,  and 
it  has  even  been  (on  no  ground  whatever)  conjectured  by 
different  writers  that  the  Church  referred  to  is  Corinth,  or 
Philadelphia,  or  Jerusalem,  or  Patmos,  or  Ephesus,  or  Babylon  ! 

*  Comp.  8  Joliu  i.,  Taitf  r^  h-ya-nur^.     Rom.  xvi.  13,  Vovtpov  rhv  ^K\eKr6v. 


To  a  Cimstian  Lady.  501 

If  a  Cliurch  was  intended  we  can  give  no  reason  whatever  for  2  john. 
the  adoption  of  a  style  so  needlessly  euj^huistic,  so  alien  from 
Apostolic  simplicity.  A  Church  certainly  might  be  called  "  the 
bride  of  Christ,"  but  the  word  "  Lady  "  is  nowhere  applied  to 
the  Church,  still  less  is  there  any  trace  of  correspondence 
between  Churches  under  the  title  of  "  ladies."  ^ 

a.  It  is  most  natural  therefore  and  simple  to  take  the 
letter  in  its  obvious  sense,  and  to  suppose  that  the  Apostle  is 
writing  to  a  Christian  lady  and  her  children  "whom,"  he 
says,  "  I  love  in  the  truth."  The  "  I,"  is  emphatically  repeated 
in  the  original  (ou?  eyo)  dyaTro))  but  it  cannot  be  safely  inferred 
from  this  that  others  regarded  this  family  with  different 
feelings.  In  one  of  his  visits  of  supervision  among  the 
Churches  of  Asia  he  had  stayed  at  the  home  of  this  lady's 
sister  and  there  met  "  some  of  her  children."  Pleased  to  find 
that  they  were  faithful  Christians,  and  worthy  of  a  family 
which  (speaking  in  ordinary  language)  he  says  that  "  al' 
Christians  know  and  love,"^  he  writes  to  the  Christian 
mother  to  congratulate  her.  Women  like  Priscilla,  Lydia, 
Phoebe,  and  Persis  played  no  small  part  in  the  early  spread  of 
the  Gospel,  and  St.  John  would  naturally  feel  a  deep  sympathy 
Avith  them  as  he  did  with  the  young.  The  delicate  suppres- 
sion of  the  individual  name  in  a  letter  which  might  pro- 
bably be  read  aloud  in  the  Christian  assembly  is  perfectly 
explicable. 

o.  But  St.  John  thought  it  right  to  give  a  special  warning 
to  this  lady,  and  through  her  to  the  Church  to  which  she 
belonged.  Many  "  deceivers  "  and  many  "  Antichrists  "  were 
abroad.  By  those  terms  St.  John  meant  men  who  taught 
false  and  heretical  views  about  Christ ;  as  that  He  was  a  mere 
man  ;  or  that  "  Jesus  "  and  "  Christ "  were  different  beings  ; 
or  that  the  human  life  of  Jesus  was  a  mere  illusive  semblance. 

1  Hilgenfeld,  Einlcit.  686,  thinks  that  the  name  Kvpla  might  he  applied  to 
a  Church  from  a  misunderstanding  of  the  LXX.  in  Is.  xl.  10,  fieTo.  Kvpias. 

2  This  expression  has  been  used  to  show  that  St.  John  cannot  be  writing  to 
a  lady.  Why  not  ?  Why,  for  instance,  might  not  any  religious  teacher  say 
to  an  esteemed  and  beloved  coirespondent  "you  whom  all  Christians  love"  ? 


502  The  Catholic  Epistles. 

Now  the  Church  was  full  of  wandering  teachers,  some  of 
whom  were  designing  men  who  deliberately  spread  erroneous 
doctrines.  St.  Paul,  St.  Peter,  St.  Jude  had  all  raised  against 
such  teachers  a  warning  voice.  But  they  were  specially  apt 
to  creep  in  unawares,  and  most  of  all  into  the  houses  of 
widows,  and  of  those  whom  in  a  passage  of  intense  severity 
St.  Paul  calls  "  womanlings,  laden  with  sins,  led  away  by 
divers  desires  "  (2  Timothy  iii.  6),  whom  they  "  took  caj^tive  " 
by  their  wiles.  Not  to  such  a  class  of  women  did  "  the  Elect 
Lady "  belong ;  but  since  it  was  the  rule  and  the  duty  of 
Christians  to  support  and  to  receive  into  their  houses  the 
missionaries  of  the  Gospel,  St.  John  warns  her  that  she  must 
not  show  this  hospitality,  nor  give  the  deeper  fraternal  greeting, 
to  those  who  would  claim  it  as  a  sanction,  and  abuse  it  for 
the  furtherance  of  fundamental  heresy.-^ 

This  text — torn  from  its  context,  severed  from  its  historic 
meaning — has  been  terribly  abused.  It  tells  ill  for  the  sj)irit 
of  Christians  that  from  the  earliest  days  the  one  verse  almost 
exclusively  quoted  from  this  Epistle  of  love  by  the  Apostle  of 
love  has  been  a  verse  which  has  been  perverted  into  a 
plausible  excuse  for  religious  hate.^  It  is  so  easy  to  fulfil 
this  precept,  so  difficult  to  obey  the  new  and  old  command- 
ment which  is  the  end  of  all  the  law  !  On  the  strength  of 
this  text  John  a  Lasco  having  been  expelled  from  England 
with  his  congregation  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Mary  in  1553, 
was  refused  admission  into  Denmark.  On  the  strength  of 
this  text,  among  the  misguided  fanatics  of  Miinster,  "  all 
intercourse  with  the  '  pagans  '  was  strictly  forbidden.  Tho?e 
who  received  the  new  baptism  alone  were  '  Saints.' "  It  is 
thus  that  Cornelius  k  Lapide,  in  a  spirit  the  very  opposite  to 
all  the  teachings  of  Christ  and  all  the  lessons  of  the  New 
Testament,  quotes  this  text  to  forbid  "  all  conversation,  all 

'  In  verse  9,  the  tnie  roading  is  ttSj  &  irpoayuv.  "  Every  one  who  goes  in 
advance"  i.e.  who  enters  into  unauthorised  and  misguiding  speculations  such 
as  those  which  St.  Paul  condemns  (1  Tim.  vi.  4  ;  2  Tim.  ii.  14,  16). 

^  It  was  quoted  hy  an  African  Bishop,  Aurelius,  iu  an  African  Council  in 
Cyprian's  days. 


Abuse  of  Texts.  503 

intercourse,  all  dealings  with  heretics,"  an  inference  which  2  john. 
if  it  were  not  (happily)  set  at  naught  by  the  common  sense 
and  right  feeling  of  Christians  would  prevent  all  Roman 
Catholics  and  all  Protestants  from  being  even  on  speaking 
terms  with  each  other.  It  is  thus  that  the  ocean  of  evil 
passions  excluded  by  the  whole  sj)irit  of  the  Gospel  is 
suffered  to  come  flooding  in  through  the  narrow  aperture  of  a 
misinterpreted  text.     It  is  thus  that, 

"  The  devil  can  quote  Scripture  for  his  purpose," 

and,  in  Scriptural  phrase,  lay  at  Heaven's  door  his  evil  off- 
spring of  wrath  and  strife.^  It  is  thus  that  we  teach  aliens 
to  blaspheme ;  but 

"  Having  waste  ground  enough, 
Shall  we  desire  to  rase  the  sanctuary 
And  pitch  oui-  evils  there  ?  " 

1  Sceptics,  eagerly  adopting  the  exaggerations  and  misapplications  of  texts 
by  Christians,  exult  over  these  passages  as  breathing  "  the  deplorable  spirit  of 
dogmatic  intolerance "  (Eenan) ;  and  others  quote  it  as  a  proof  that  the 
Epistle  must  be  spiu'ious,  as  proving  that  St.  John  had  failed  to  learn  the  lesson 
which  Christ  Himself  had  inculcated  (Luke  ix.  50).  Such  remarks  and  inferences 
would  be  perfectly  justifiable  if  we  were  obliged  to  understand  St.  John  in  the 
sense  which  religious  partisans  have  given  to  his  narrowly  limited  and 
perfectly  intelligible  caution. 


THE  THIRD  EPISTLE  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

"Ex  operibus  cognoscitur  valetuJo  aiiimae  et  lianc  prosequentur  vota 
sanctorum. " — Bengel. 

This  Epistle  is  even  slighter  in  texture  than  the  former, 
and  much  of  it  resembles  other  passages  of  St.  John  (John  xix. 
35,  xxi.  24,  2  John  12,  &c.). 

It  is  addressed  "  to  Gains  the  beloved."  After  a  greeting 
and  a  prayer  that  he  may  prosper  in  all  respects,^  and  be  in 
health,  the  elder  commends  his  sincere  faithfulness  (2 — 4),  and 
especially  his  hospitality  (5 — 8).^  After  a  complaint  and 
warning  to  domineering  Diotrephes  (9 — 10),  whom  Gaius 
is  not  to  imitate,  St.  John  bears  testimony  to  the  worth 
of  Demetrius  (12,  13),  and  then  ends  the  letter  with  a 
salutation,  because  he  hopes  soon  to  see  Gaius  and  does 
not  wish  to  write  any  more  (13 — 15).  The  closing  words 
"  salute  the  friends  by  name,"  if  they  be  the  last  words 
which  we  possess  from  the  pen  of  St.  John,  accord  well  with 
his  last  famous  and  beautiful  traditional  utterance  ; — 

"  Filioli,  diligite  alterutinini. 

"  Little  children,  love  one  another." 

Who  Gains  was  is  entirely  unknown.  It  was  the  com- 
monest of  Roman  names.  It  Avas  used  in  the  Roman 
law  books  for  "  so-and-so,"  like  our  John  Doe  and  Richard 
Roe.  In  St. 'Paul's  letters  we  have  no  less  than  three  Gaiuses  : 
Gaius  of  Macedonia  (Acts  xix.  29),  Gaius  of  Derbe  (Acts  xx.  4), 

^  irepl  iravTuv.     Not  "above  all  things"  as  in  A.  V. 
2  Both  ipt\aSe\<pia  and  <(>i\o^evla  (verse  5). 


Diotrephes.  505 

and  a  Gaius  of  Corinth  (Rom.  xvi.  4)  who,  hke  St.  John's 
correspondent,  was  famous  for  the  necessary  duty  of  Christian 
hosjjitality.i  The  Gaius  to  whom  St.  John  writes  may  be 
the  Bishop  of  Pergamum  mentioned  in  the  ApostoUc 
Constitutions.^ 

The  word  "  Truth  " — reality,  sincerity,  orthodoxy — occurs 
no  less  than  six  times  in  these  few  verses. 

From  this  Epistle,  as  from  various  allusions  in  St,  Paul,  we 
get  an  interesting  glimpse  of  the  early  missionaries.  Some 
Avho  called  themselves  by  this  name  were  false  teachers, 
against  whom  in  the  last  Epistle,  the  Christian  lady  is  warned. 
Some,  as  we  see  from  what  St.  Paul  says  to  the  Corinthians 
(2  Cor.  xi.  26),  acted  with  an  insolence  and  rapacity  truly 
outrageous.  But  the  true  missionaries  were  full  of  self- 
sacrifice  "for  the  Name"  and,  like  St.  Paul,  would  take 
nothing  from  the  Gentiles  (verse  7).  Hence  it  would  have 
been  impossible  for  them  to  do  their  work  at  all,  if  the  houses 
of  Christian  friends  had  not  been  freely  opened  to  them. 
Gaius  is  justly  praised  for  his  ready  hospitality.  He  has 
sped  them  on  their  journey  {tt poire jjb'^a<;)  "  worthily  of  God  " 
(aei'o)?  roi)  deov).  It  is  a  truly  Christian  task  to  further  the 
good  work  which  we  cannot  personally  undertake. 

This  little  note  furnishes  us  with  two  contrasted  pictures 
which  St.  John  etches  in  a  few  words  with  the  same  masterly 
pyschological  skill  which  we  see  in  the  Gospel. 

1,  One  is  domineering  Diotrephes.  He  is  represented  as  a 
turbulent  intriguer  who  rejects  St.  John's  authority ;  babbles 
((^Xvapwv,  garrulous)  against  him  with  wicked  words  ;  refused 
to  receive  the  friends  and  messengers  who  came  with  com- 
mendatory letters  from  him  ;  and  not  content  with  this,  did 
his  best  to  prevent  others  from  receiving  them  and  even 
wished  to  excommunicate  them.  St.  John  had  written 
something  to  the  Church  of  which  this  man  was  a  Presbyter, 

1  Rom.  ■an.  13  ;  1  Tim.  iii.  2  ;  Tit.  i.  8  ;   Heb.  xiii.  2  ;  1  Pet.  iv.  9. 

^  St.  John  prays  that  lie  may  be  "in  health."  This  was  a  common  Stoic 
greeting,  but  was  not  common  among  Christians.  Perhaps  Gaiizs  had  weak 
health. 


3  JOHN. 


506  The  Catholic  Epistles. 

but  apparently  Diotrephes  had  suppressed  it.  St.  John  warns 
liim  that  when  he  comes,  he  will  bring  his  ill-doings  to 
remembrance  before  the  Church.  Perhaps  his  special  reason 
for  writing  to  Gaius  was  that  Gaius  had  welcomed  the 
travelling  brethren  whom  Diotrephes  had  tried  to  turn  away. 

It  has  been  thought  impossible  that  any  Presbyter  should 
have  had  the  audacity  to  act  in  this  way  towards  an  Apostle 
of  the  age,  dignity  and  supreme  authority  of  St,  John,  But 
early  Church  history  is  full  of  surprises,  and  the  figure  of 
Diotrephes  is  recognisable  in  the  Church  in  all  ages.  If 
St.  Paul  had  to  contend  with  a  Phygellus  and  an  Alexander 
(1  Timothy  i.  20),  a  Hymenaeus  and  a  Philetus  (2  Timothy 
ii.  17,  18),  and  with  other  nameless  opponents  actuated  by 
the  most  virulent  spirit  of  antagonism,  in  Rome,  Corinth  and 
Galatia,  why  should  not  St,  John  have  met  with  a  Diotrephes  ? 
If  there  were  men  who  could  forge  letters  which  purported  to 
come  from  St.  Paul  (2  Thess,  ii,  2,  iii.  17),  why  should  not  a 
Diotrephes  suj^press  a  few  lines  (ii.  verse  9)  Amtten  by 
St,  John  ?  The  brief  missive  has  been  lost  like  many  others 
.which  the  Apostles  must  have  written.^ 

2.  A  very  different  person  was  Demetrius,  possibly  the 
bearer  of  this  letter.  All  bore  witness  to  his  character,  and 
St.  John  himself  ratified  the  universal  testimony. 

Thus  even  in  these  few  lines  we  have  vivid  presentations 
of  Gaius,  Diotrephes,  and  Demetrius,  They  also  afford  us  an 
interesting  glimpse  into  the  history  of  the  early  Church,  its 
missionary  activity  and  its  hospitable  unselfishness,  but  at  the 
same  time  the  growtli  of  factions  and  of  self-asserting  ambition 
among  its  leading  teachers.  If  we  are  surprised  and  shocked 
to  see  this  early  fading  of  the  orange-fiower  and  staining  and 
rending  of  the  white  and  seamless  robe  of  the  Bride  of  Christ, 
we  have  at  the  same  time  a  valuable  indication  that  room 
was  left  in  the  Church  for  a  spirit  of  independence,  and  that 

^  3  John  9.  There  is  a  rending  typa^a  &v,  and  the  Vulg,  has  scn'pxissan 
forsitnn.  The  change  of  reading  is  probably  due  to  the  desire  to  exclude  the 
notion  that  any  letter  by  nn  Apostle  conld  be  lost. 


The  Third  Epistle.  507 

while  the  abuse   of  that  spirit  was  repressed   by   the   high      3  john. 
personal   authority  of  the   last   Apostle,   the   independence 
itself  is  left  unrestrained,  because  where  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord  is,  there  also  is  and  must  be  liberty. 

St.  John  would  have  had  much  more  to  say,  but  prefers  to 
say  it  "  mouth  to  mouth,"  not  by  "  ink  and  reed."  Probably 
he  was  unaccustomed  to,  and  disliked  the  physical  toil  of 
writing,  specially  in  his  old  age.  He  has  said  the  same  to 
the  Elect  Lady.  Possibly  too  it  may  not  have  been  always 
easy  to  procure  papyrus,  especially  if  St.  John  was  writing 
from  his  little  isle  of  retreat  in  Patmos.^ 

^  The  newly-discovered  teaching  of  the  Twelve  Apostles  shows  us  a  state 
of  society  v.hich  in  many  respects  resembles  that  described  in  this  brief 
Epistle. 


THE   REVELATION  OF  ST.  JOHN, 


THE  EEVELATION  OF  ST.  JOHN. 

WRITTEN    IN    TATMOS   PROBABLY   ABOUT   A.D.    68. 


*'  Poi  vidi un  veccliio  solo 

Venir  dormeiido,  con  la  faccia  arguta." 

— Dante,  Funjat.  xxix.  142,  143. 

•navra  5e  ravra  apxv  iJiSLyaiv. — Matt.  xxiv.  8. 
"Sub  Neroue  damuatio  invaluit." — Tertullian'. 
"  The  poet  says,  '  Dear  city  of  Cecrops  ; '  wilt  thou  not  say,  '  Dear  City  of 
God '  i  " — Marc.  Aurelius. 


Home  shall  perish  !  write  that  word 
In  the  blood  that  she  has  spilt  ; 

Perish,  hopeless  and  abhorred, 
Deep  in  ruin  as  in  guilt." — Cowter. 


"Yea,  I  come  quickly." — Eev.  xxii.  20. 

The  Apocalypse,  or  Revelation  of  Jesus  Christ  to  St.  John,  revelation. 
though  it  stands  last  in  the  order  of  our  Canon,  was  the 
earliest,  not  the  latest,  of  the  writings  of  the  Evangelist. 
Misled  by  an  ambiguous  passage  of  Irenaeus,  in  which  it  is 
not  impossible  that  he  fell  into  some  confusion  between 
Domitius  (Nero)  and  Domitian,  many  ancient  and  modern 
writers  have  regarded  it  as  the  last  utterance  of  special 
inspiration.  But  the  whole  force  of  modern  criticism  tends 
to  correct  the  ancient  error.^     Internal  evidence  sufficiently 

^  If  Irenaeus  made  a  mistake  in  this  matter  it  is  by  no  means  his  only  one. 
In  matters  of  fact  he  is  very  far  from  being  a  certain  guide.  It  is,  liowever, 
possible  that  he  is  assigning  the  date  of  St.  John's  cloning  days  to  the  reign  of 
Domitian,  and  not  the  date  of  the  Ai)ocal\pse.  Tertullian,  Ejiiphanius,  a 
Syriac  MS.,  Theophylaot  the  author  of  the  Life  of  Timoihcits,  of  which  ex- 
tracts are  preserved  in  Photius,  Andreas  and  Arethas  (tlie  earliest  Apocalyptic 
commentators),  probably  also  Clement  of  Alexandria  and  Origen  indicate  tho 
reign  of  Nero  as  the  epoch  at  which  the  Apocalypse  was  written :  and  this  is 


512  The  Catholic  Epistles. 

REVELATION,  lirovcs  tluxt  tlic  book  could  not  have  been  written  after  the 
fall  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  writer  all  but  states  in  so  many 
words  that  he  is  writing  in  the  brief  reign  of  Galba.^    It  must 
be  regarded  as  a   psychological   impossibility  that  St.  John 
should  have  written  the  Gospel  in  extreme  old  age  in  Greek, 
which,  though  unidiomatic  in  structure,  is  comparatively  pure  ; 
and  yet,  some  years  later,  should  have  written  the  Apocalypse 
in  Greek,  more  rugged  and  solecistic  than  that  of  any  other 
book  in  the  New  Testament,  and  even  than  all  but  the  very 
worst  parts  of  the  Septuagiut.     It  is  still  more  impossible 
psychologically  that  St.  John  should  have  retrogressed  from  the 
supreme  calmness  and  absolute  spirituality  of  the  GosjdcI  and 
the  first  Epistle  to  the   cruder  symbolism,  the  tumultuous 
agitation,  the  intenser  Judaism,  the  fiercer  denunciations,  the 
more  human  tone  and  the  more  imperfect  treatment  of  the 
Apocalypse.     It  would  be  nothing  short  of  a  retrogression  to 
pass  from  the  abstract  and  absolute  forms  in  which  the  Gospel 
and  Epistle  set  forth  to  us  the  conflict  of  good  with  evil,  to 
the  kabbalism  of  numbers  and   the  symbolism   of   strange 
figures;  from  the  most  ethereal  regions  of  Christian  thought 
to  scarlet  dragons  and  hell-born  frogs ;  from  realms  of  spiritual 
assurance,  in  which  the  pure  azure  of  contemplation  seems  to 
be  unstained  by  any  earthly  cloud  to  dim  images  of  plague  and 
war,  in  which  cries  of  vengeance  ring  through  an  atmosphere 
which  is  lurid  with  fire  and  blood.     The  last  words  of  the 
New  Covenant  Inspiration  were  not  heard  in  this  tumultuous 
record  of  eclipse  and  earthquake,  even  though  the  Divine 
tragedy    (as   Milton   says)    shuts  up   and   intermingles    her 
solemn  scenes  and  acts  with  a  sevenfold  chorus  of  hallelujahs 

tlie  view  of  Grotius,  Hammond,  Liicke,  Schwegler,  Baur,  Hilgenfold,  Ztillig, 
De  Wette,  Bunsen,  Neander,  Auberlen,  Ewald,  Bleek,  Kreiikel,  Volkmar, 
Stier,  "Weiss,  Diisterdieck,  Scliaff,  Reuss,  Reville,  Renan,  Aube,  De  Pressense, 
Maurice,  Moses  Stuart,  Desprez,  Dr.  S.  Davidson,  Bishop  Lightfoot,  Westcott, 
and  many  others. 

1  Rev.  xiii.  3 ;  xvii,  10,  11.  The  former  of  these  passages  alludes  to  the 
death  and  resuscitation  of  Nero  (partially  fulfilled  at  least  in  Domitian,  who 
was  regarded  as  Nero  rcdivivun) ;  the  latter  to  the  five  Emiierors  who  preceded 
flalba,  namely,  Augustus,  Tiberius,  Gains,  Claudius,  Nero.  This  would  give 
the  date  in  the  summer  or  autumn  of  A.D.  68. 


An  Early  Worh.  513 

and  harping  symphonies ;  but  the  voice  of  the  Spirit,  as  kevelation. 
heard  in  Scripture,  breathed  its  last  tones  in  the  two  united 
books  which  tell  us  that  "  The  Word  was  made  flesh,"  and 
that  "God  is  Love."  In  the  Apocalypse^  John  was  still  a 
Son  of  Thunder ;  in  the  Gospel  the  red  flames  of  youth  have 
become  a  pure  and  steady  glow  of  love.^ 

It  must  not  be  thought  for  a  moment  that  in  thus  speaking 
we  are  disparaging  the  Apocalypse,  which,  in  its  own  proper 
sphere,  in  its  own  historical  connexion,  in  its  proper  interpre- 
tation, in  its  own  due  place  in  the  economy  of  revelation,  shines 
with  a  splendour  of  its  own.  It  is  a  book  of  war,  but  the  war 
ends  in  triumph  and  peace.^  It  is  a  book  of  thunder,  but  the 
rolling  of  the  thunder  dies  away  in  liturgies  and  psalms.* 

^  The  fuudamental  theology  of  the  Apocalj-pse  and  of  the  later  writings  is 
the  same,  as  has  been  carefully  and  fully  shown  in  Gebhardt's  Doctrine  (tf  the 
Apocalypse,  and  as  even  Baur  admits  when  he  calls  tlie  Gospel  a  spiritualised 
Apocalypse  {Die  Evang.  p.  380).  In  both  Christ  is  rei^resented  as  the  victim 
Lamb.  (The  apvlov  of  the  Apocalypse  is  perhaps  chosen,  ratlier  than  the  word 
afivhs  of  the  Gospel,  as  the  best  antithesis  to  dnpiov.)  In  both  He  is  called 
"  the  Word."  In  both  we  read  of  the  Living  Water.  Both  give  prominence 
to  the  prophecy  of  Zechariah  (xii.  10),  "They  shall  look  on  Him  whom  they 
have  pierced"  ;  both,  in  this  quotation,  diverge  in  the  same  way  from  the 
LXX.  There  are  many  isolated  resemblances  of  phrase  and  construction 
(see  xiii.  13,  16),  and  in  relation  to  many  doctrines  an  identity  of  essence 
underlies  the  dissimilarity  of  form.  Yet  there  is  also  a  wide  difference  between 
these  writings.  The  material  eschatology  of  the  Apocalypse  becomes  in  the 
Gospel  and  Epistle  a  spiritual  consummation.  Hi  the  Apocalypse  Christ  is 
rather  the  Judge  and  the  Avenger  than  the  Good  Shepherd.  The  Antichrist 
of  the  Apocalypse  is  Nero  ;  the  Antichrists  of  the  later  writings  are  incipient 
Gnostics.  In  the  Apocalypse  Heaven  is  a  future  splendour  ;  in  the  later 
writings  a  present  and  living  realisation  of  eternal  life.  In  the  Apocalypse 
the  persecuted  Christians  are  consoled  with  the  promise  of  what  shall  be  ;  iu 
the  later  M'ritings  with  the  knowledge  of  what  is.  See  among  others, 
Lechler,  Apost.  Zcitalt.  199-201.  Eexiss,  Eisl.  de  la  Thiol.  Chrit.  ii.  564-571. 
Ewald,  Johan.  Schriftcn,  ii.  1,  52,  53,  62,  63;  Diisterdieck,  pp.  73-80, 
and  Early  Days  of  Christianity,  ii.  179-323.  These  differences,  on  the 
hypothesis  of  the  same  author,  can  only  be  accounted  for  on  the  supposition 
that  more  than  twenty  years  elapsed  between  the  time  when  St.  John  wrote 
the  Apocalypse  when  he  was,  so  to  speak,  emerging  from  the  synagogue  (Rev. 
ii.  9  ;  iii.  9  ;  xi.  1,  19,  &c.),  and  the  ripe  old  age  when  after  the  Fall  of 
Jiirusalem,  and  with  all  the  enlightenment  which  dawned  on  his  mind,  in 
consequence  of  the  development  of  Christian  history,  he  left  to  the  Church 
the  precious  legacy  of  his  last  writings. 

2  Weiss,  Lchcn  Jcsu,  i.  101. 

'  "  War  "  occurs  in  the  Apocalypse  nine  times  ;  and  only  seven  times  in  the 
rest  of  the  New  Testament.  "  To  war"  occurs  six  times,  and  only  once  (J as. 
iv.  2)  in  the  rest  of  tlie  New  Testament. 

*  Comp.  Renan,  L' Antichrist,  p.  381. 

L   L 


514  The  Revelation  of  St.  John. 

iiEvr.LATioN.  We  could  ill  afford  to  lose — all  Cliristiaa  thought  would  be 
tlie  jjoorer  if  we  lost — this  superb  and  stormy  protest  against 
the  apparent  triumph  of  evil ;  this  magnificent  and  tempes- 
tuous assertion  of  hopes  Avhich  no  darkness  could  extinguish, 
no  seas  of  blood  could  drown.  Each  part  and  each  form  of 
revelation  has  its  own  necessary  function,  and  must  be  con- 
sidered relatively  to  the  whole  of  which  it  is  an  essential  part. 
The  apocalyptic  form  of  literature,  so  popular  in  the  first 
century,  was  acknowledged  by  the  Jews  to  be  generically 
inferior  to  the  prophetic.  They  did  not  dream  of  placing  the 
Book  of  Daniel  on  a  level  with  the  Prophecy  of  Isaiah.  The 
Apocalypse  is  the  "  Daniel "  of  the  New  Testament,  and  we 
shall  wilfully  throw  away  the  sole  key  to  its  interpretation  if 
Ave  do  not  interpret  it  by  the  Avell-recognised  principles  which 
dominate  the  whole  literature  of  which  it  is  a  specimen.  In 
its  imagery,  in  its  scope,  in  its  expressions,  it  is  closely 
analogous,  not  only  to  the  Book  of  Daniel,  but  also  to  the 
nearly  contemporary  apocalypses  of  the  Books  of  Enoch, 
Esdras,  and  Baruch,  the  Assumption  of  Moses,  the  Shepherd 
of  Hermas,  and  the  Pseudo-Sibylliue  oracles.  Every  one  of 
these  books,  without  exception,  describes,  in  certain  recog- 
nised cycles  of  imagery,  events  which  were  either  actually  or 
nearly  synchronous  with  the  publication  of  the  books  them- 
selves. Their  vaticinations  were  never  intended  to  be  under- 
stood as  anticipated  history.  The  predictive  element  belongs 
only  to  their  literary  form.  They  were,  and  were  only  meant 
to  be,  applications  of  eternal  principles  to  contemporary  facts. 
Their  object  is  didactic  and  practical,  not  predictive.  An 
Apocalypse  is  essentially  and  of  necessity  a  cryptograph  to 
tlie  uninitiated,  though  it  would  have  been  valueless  and 
would  have  entirely  failed  of  its  purpose  if  it  had  not  been 
intelligible  to  the  readers  for  whom  it  was  meant.  The  form 
of  these  writings  was  due  originally  and  chiefly  to  the  dangers 
of  the  times.  We  see  in  reading  Josephus  how  constantly 
he  has  to  be  on  his  guard  against  the  peril  of  awaking  the 
jealous  susceptibilities  of  his   Roman   readers,  although  he 


A  Cryptograph.  515 

stood  to  them  in  so  friendly  a  relation,  and  was  under  the 
immediate  protection  and  patronage  of  the  Flavian  emperors. 
If  a  traitorous  Jew  like  Josephus  had  to  be  careful  when  he 
stood  merely  on  the  neutral  ground  of  history ;  if  even  Peter 
has  to  allude  to  Rome  under  the  name  "  Babylon  ;"  if  St.  Paul 
could  only  refer  dimly  to  "  the  checker "  and  "  the  check," 
and  "the  man  of  sin"  in  language  of  studied  reticence  and 
obscurity;  if  (as  has  been  conjectured)  St.  Luke  broke  off  the 
Acts  at  a  point  beyond  which  it  became  perilous  to  describe 
the  relation  of  Christianity  to  the  Empire — how  could  St. 
John  have  possibly  written  of  such  days  as  those  of  Nero 
without  the  utmost  peril,  not  only  to  himself,  but  to  the 
Avhole  Christian  community,  if  he  had  not  veiled  his  concep- 
tions in  a  form  which  would  have  seemed  grotesque  and 
meaningless  to  heathen  informers  ?  If  these  circumstances 
had  received  their  proper  weight — if  the  necessary  conditions 
of  all  apocalyptic  literature  had  been  duly  borne  in  mind — 
this  book  would  not  have  been  treated  as  a  repellent  enigma 
which  could  only  be  abandoned  to  fanatical  interpreters.  The 
shocking  series  of  misinterpretations  to  which  it  has  been 
subjected — the  reactionary  sense  of  impatience,  and  even  of 
dislike,  which  it  has  inspired — its  positive  and  determined 
rejection,  not  only  by  Alugi  and  Antichiliasts,  but  by  some 
eminent  Christian  writers  in  all  ages,  from  the  days  of  the 
Presbyter  Gaius,  Dionysius  of  Alexandria,  and  Eusebius  of 
Caesarea,  to  those  of  Erasmus,  Zwingli,  and  Luther,  and 
from  the  Reformation  down  to  Scaliger,  Lowth,  South, 
Schleiermacher,  and  Goethe^ — have  been  due  to  the  rejection 

*  Dionysius  of  Alexandria  says  that  the  Alogi  "jeered"  at  the  Apocalypse 
{xK^vdiovTis),  and  that  many  criticised  and  condemned  it  with  extreme 
severity.  Gains  and  others  attributed  it  to  Cerinthus.  It  is  omitted  from 
the  Canon  of  the  Council  of  Laodicea  (a.d.  363).  Junilius  tells  us  that  the 
Eastern  Church  had  great  doubts  about  it.  Primasius  in  the  sixth  century 
confesses  that  there  was  much  in  it  which  he  could  not  comprehend.  Jerome 
and  Augustine  speak  of  its  obscurity.  The  dislike  of  the  ancient  Church  to 
the  narrow  literalism  of  the  Millenarians  prejudiced  them  against  the  book. 
Cardinal  Cajetan  siys  that  he  could  not  interpret  it  literally.  Zwingli  re- 
garded it  as  non-Biblical  {"  Dann  es  nit  ein  biblisch  Buck  w<").  Tyndale 
wrote  no  preface  to  it.  Luther  calls  it  "  a  dumb  prophecy,"  and  said  that 
Christ  could  neither  be  learnt  nor  recognised  in  it.  Gravina  thought  that  its 
exegesis  involved  danger.     De  AVette  said  that  whole  chapters  of  it  were  like 

L    L    2 


616  The  Revelation  of  St.  John. 

by  the  instinctive  feeling  of  Cliristians  of  the  conflicting 
schemes  of  exegesis  which  have  distorted  this  book,  page 
after  page,  into  a  clumsy,  fantastic,  and  impossible  approxima- 
tion to  events,  religious  and  secular,  during  the  nineteen 
Christian  centuries.  Men  have  felt  that  the  very  conception 
of  prophecy  would  have  been  degraded  by  a  minute  praede- 
scription  of  future  history,  and  that  the  very  basis  of  charity 
was  overthrown  by  the  "loud-lunged  anti-Babylonianisms " 
of  "  heated  pulpiteers,"  each  hurling  at  the  other  the  con- 
flicting anathemas  of  their  religious  partisanship.  Notliing 
but  offence  and  degradation  could  be  the  issue  of  principles 
of  exposition — the  outcome  often  of  confident  ignorance  and 
bitter  intolerance — which  a23plied  "the  single  eagle"  or 
"angel"  of  Rev.  vii.  13  to  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  Pope  Gregory 
the  Great,  to  St.  John,  to  St.  Paul,  and  to  Christ; — which 
inteqoreted  the  fallen  star  of  ix.  1  as  an  evil  sjoirit,  or  the 
Beast,  Eleazer,  or  Arius,  or  Origen  (!),  or  Romulus  Augustulus, 
or  the  Emperor  Valens,  or  Hildebrand,  or  Mohammed,  or 
Napoleon; — which  made  the  locusts  imply  Saracens,  the 
mendicant  orders,  Jesuits,  or  Protestants ; — and  in  which  the 
Seven  Thunders  were  the  seven  Crusades,  or  seven  Protestant 
kingdoms,  or  the  Papal  Bull  of  Leo  X.  against  Luther  !  Such 
systems  and  such  methods  of  interpretation  are  things  of  the 
past.  We  may  be  confident  that  no  such  anachronism  will 
again  be  perpetrated  by  any  competent  writer.  It  is  now 
becoming  a  more  and  more  universal  conviction  that  the 
Book  of  Revelation  deals  with  the  events  by  which  its  com- 
position was  suggested ;  that  its  symbols  have  no  direct 
connexion  with  the  accidental  analogies  for  which  modern 
history  has  been  ransacked ;  that  it  is  not  an  enigmatic 
anticipation  of  Gibbon,  or  Milman,  or  Neander  and  Gieseler, 
breathing  of  theological  hatred  and  sectarian  animosity ;  that 
in  writing  to  the  Churches  of  Asia  about  the  "  three  frogs " 

empty  vials.  Diisterdieck  calls  it  cleuteTO-canoiiical.  Adam  Clarke  said  that 
lie  could  not  pretend  to  explain  it.  Robert  South  even  ventured  to  say  in  one 
of  his  sermons  that  "the  more  it  was  studied,  the  hss  was  it  understood,  as 
generally  either  Onding  a  man  cracked  or  leaving  him  so." 


Its  True  Meaning.  517 

which  came  from  the  mouth  of  the  Dragon,  the  Beast,  and  revelation. 
the  False  Prophet,  St.  John  was  not  indicating  either  the 
French  Revolution  or  "  the  growth  of  Tractarianism ; "  finally, 
that  if  the  anticipations  of  the  Seer  have  "  germinant  and 
springing  developments,"  it  is  because  his  book  describes  the 
never-ending  conflict  of  Christ  with  Antichrist  of  which  the 
world's  history  is  full,  and  because  all  eternal  principles  are 
capable  of  infinite  applications.  Asthekeyto  theBook  of  Daniel 
lies  in  the  recognition  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes  as  '''  the  little 
horn,"  so  the  key  to  the  contemporary  interpretation  of  the 
Apocalypse  has  not  been  flung  either  into  the  Sea  of  Patmos 
or  the  Maeander,  but  lies  in  the  identification  of  Nero  with 
the  Wild  Beast,  which  is  now  accepted  by  almost  every  one 
of  the  leading  critics  in  England,  Germany,  and  France.^ 

The  true  grandeur  of  the  Apocalypse  lies  in  its  applicability 
to  the  terrible  days  in  which  it  was  written,  and  in  the  fact 
that  it  expressed  the  inextinguishable  hopes  and  indomitable 
courage  of  Christianity  when  Christians  first  found  them- 
selves face  to  face  with  such  perils  as  had  never  before  been 
dreamt  of  "  Without  tears,"  says  Bengel,  "  it  was  not 
written ;  without  tears  it  cannot  be  understood."  It  is  rather 
a  paean  of  exultation  poured  forth  out  of  the  midst  of 
anguish  than  "  a  miserere  wrung  from  mighty  grief."  The 
words  in  which  it  was  written  as  they  sprang  fresh  and  burn- 
ing from  the  heart  of  the  Seer,  passed,  fresh  and  burning,  in 
all  the  full  force  of  their  then  intelligible  symbols,  into  the 
hearts  of  those  to  whom  they  appealed.  It  was  not  written 
to  inflate  the  spiritual  pride,  and  gratify  the  speculative 
curiosity  of  handfuls  of  Christians  in  Smj'rna  and  Laodicea, 
by  setting  forth  in  a  mass  of  fantastic  enigmas  and  monstrous 
symbols  the  career  of  Theodosius  or  Mohammed,  or  the 
Mediaeval  Papacy,  but — in  exact  conformity  with  the  laws 
which  governed  the  strange  form  of  literature  to  which  it 

^  The  healing  of  the  death-wounded  head,  and  the  phrases  "which  was,  and 
is  not,  and  is  al)oiit  to  come  out  of  the  abyss,"  and  "  he  is  an  eighth,  and  is 
of  the  seventh  "  are  allusions  to  the  universally  believed  escape  or  future 
resuscitation  of  Nero.     Ideally  it  was  more  than  fulfilled  in  Domitian. 


518  The  Revelation  of  St.  John. 

belonged — it  was  meant  to  tell  them  in  wliat  sj^irit  they 
should  face  the  human  Antichrists  of  Pagan  Rome — "the 
world  rulers  of  this  darkness  " — the  deadly  combination  of  a 
Judaism  and  a  Paganism,  each  at  the  nadir  of  their  degrada- 
tion, yet  arrayed  side  by  side  in  their  sanguinary  decadence  to 
overwhelm  and  murder  them.  It  was  a  rallying  cry  to  the 
armies  of  Christ,  at  the  moment  when  they  seemed  to  be 
trampled  in  irremediable  defeat ;  it  was  meant  to  show  them 
in  what  light  they  were  to  regard  the  Neronian  Persecution 
and  the  Jewish  Rebellion.  It  expressed  the  thoughts  of  men 
who  had  seen  Peter  crucified  and  Paul  beheaded.  It  is  "  the 
thundering  reverberation  of  a  mighty  spirit"  struck  into 
stormy  music  by  the  plectrum  of  apparent  overthrow.  To 
understand  it  rightly  we  must  read  it  by  the  lurid  light  of 
the  bale-fires  of  martyrdom  as  they  flared  upon  the  palace- 
gardens  of  the  Beast  from  the  abyss.  We  must  try  to  feel  as 
Christians  felt  when  they  saw  their  brethren  torn  by  the  wild 
beasts  of  the  amphitheatre,  or  standing  as  living  torches,  each 
in  his  pitchy  tunic,  on  one  ghastly  night  at  Rome.  Such  a 
book  was  needed  in  the  awful  days  when  men  saw  an  Anti- 
christ, a  wicked  human  god,  sitting  absolute,  and  slavishly 
adored  upon  the  throne  of  the  civilised  world ;  when  the 
Devil,  the  Beast,  and  the  False  Prophet,  were  holding  foul 
orgies  in  the  streets  of  the  mystic  Babylon,  red  with  the  blood 
of  the  martyrs  of  the  Lord.  It  was  written  in  days  of  earth- 
quakes, and  inundations,  and  volcanic  outbursts,  and  horrible 
prodigies.  Emperor  after  emperor  was  perishing  by  poison, 
suicide,  or  slaughter.  Alike  Rome  and  Jerusalem  had  been 
deluged  wath  massacre.  Men  were  gnawing  their  tongues 
with  pain  and  terror.  The  sun  of  human  life  seemed  to  be 
setting  amid  seas  of  blood ;  the  air  was  full  of  the  vultures 
of  retribution  as  they  gathered  to  the  carcass  of  decadent 
societies  with  the  rushing  of  their  abominable  wings.  At 
such  an  hour — perhaps  the  dimmest  and  the  most  disastrous 
which  ever  fell  upon  an  afflicted  world — the  Seer  still 
prophesies  triumphantly  of  the  coming  dawn. 


Mar  an  atha!  519 

At  such  an  hour  of  visitation — while  earth  seemed  to  reel  revelation. 
under  the  stroke  of  her  judgments,  and  the  stars  of  heaven  to 
be  shaken  from  their  places  as  the  fig-tree  sheddeth  its  ripe 
figs— when  the  little  bands  of  the  faithful  Avere  fleeing  to 
the  mountains  from  the  horrors  of  doomed  Jerusalem,  or 
being  crushed  to  earth  under  the  iron  heels  of  murderous 
Rome — he  sings  the  dirge  of  expiring  anarchies  and  dead 
religions,  but  the  simultaneous  birth  of  a  new  order,  the 
brightness  of  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth,  the  ultimate 
victory  of  peace  and  holiness,  the  descent  from  heaven  of  the 
New  Jerusalem,  like  a  bride  adorned  for  her  husband.  The 
agonies  of  his  time  were  but  "  the  woes  of  the  Messiah  " — 
the  travail-throes  of  the  future  age.  The  key  to  the  whole 
Apocalypse  is  the  repeated  promise,  "  The  time  is  at  hand  !" 
"  Behold,  I  come  ! "  "I  come  quickly  ! "  "  Maran  atha — 
The  Lord  is  at  hand  !  "  The  Book  by  its  very  title  implies 
a  manifestation  of  Christ. 

The  essential  ideas  and  entire  structure  of  the  Apocalypse 
show  us  those  deep  and  subtle  resemblances  in  the  midst  of 
difference  which  deepen  our  conviction  that  in  reading  the 
Apocalypse  we  are  reading  an  earlier  book  by  the  author  of 
the  Gospel.  It  was  the  mental  habit  of  St.  John  to  regard 
all  the  facts  of  life  and  religion  in  absolute  antitheses,  and 
this  book  is  from  end  to  end  the  development  of  an  antithetic 
parallelism.  It  shows  us  the  struggle  of  good  and  evil,  of 
light  and  darkness.  Every  Divine  archetype  has  its  hideous 
or  blasphemous  parody.  There  is  God  and  Satan  ;  there  is 
the  Lamb  and  the  Wild  Beast ;  there  is  the  Harlot  City  and 
the  New  Jerusalem ;  there  is  Michael  and  the  Dragon ;  there 
is  heaven  and  the  abyss ;  there  are  the  armies  of  the  saints 
and  the  armies  of  idolaters  :  there  is  the  Trinity  of  Heaven 
and  the  "  Triad  of  anti-Christianity,"  the  Trinity  of  Hell. 
The  outline  of  the  book  is  as  follows: 

After  the  Prologue,  which  occupies  the  first  eight  verses, 
there  follow  seven  sections. 

1.  The  letters  to  the  Seven  Churches  of  A«ia  (i.  9— iii.  22). 


520  The  Revelation  of  St.  John. 

2.  The  Seven  Seals  (iv.— vii.). 

3.  The  Seven  Trumpets  (viii. — xi.). 

4.  The  Seven  Mystic  Figures — 

The  Sun-clothed  Woman ;  the  Ked  Dragon  ;  the  Man-child  ; 
the  Wild  Beast  from  the  Sea ;  the  Wild  Beast  from  the  Land  ; 
the  Lamb  on  Mount  Sion ;  the  Son  of  Man  on  the  Cloud 
(xii. — xiv.). 

5.  The  Seven  Vials  (xv, — xvi.), 

C.  The  Doom  of  the  Foes  of  Christ  (xvii. — xx.). 

7.  The  Blessed  Consummation  (xxi. — xxii,  7).  The 
EiDilogue  (xxii.  8 — 21). 

The  letters  to  the  Churches  are  normally  sevenfold,  con- 
sisting of  the  address,  the  title  of  the  speaker,  the  encomium, 
the  reproof,  the  warning,  the  promise,  and  the  solemn  ajjpeal. 
Each  Church  represents  a  different  phase  of  Christian  life. 
Two — Smyrna,  faithful  amid  Jewish  persecutions,  Philadelphia, 
faithful  and  militant — receive  unmingled  praise ;  two — Sardis, 
slumbering,  though  not  past  awakcnment,  Laodicea,  proud  and 
lukewarm — receive  unmitigated  reproof;  three — Ephesus, 
faithful,  though  waxing  cold,  Pergamum,  faithful  amid 
heathen  persecutions,  but  with  Antinomian  temptations, 
Thyatira,  faithful,  but  too  tolerant  of  Antinomian  seductions 
— are  addressed  in  terms  of  mingled  praise  and  blame. 

Then  begins  the  Apocalyptic  section  of  the  book.  A 
splendid  vision  burns  before  the  eyes  of  the  Seer.  He  sees 
the  Throne  of  God  and  the  Immortalities  (^<wa)  of  Heaven. 
On  the  right  of  Him  who  sat  on  the  throne  lies  a  seven-sealed 
book,  which  none  is  found  worthy  to  unseal  but  the  Lion  of 
the  Tribe  of  Judah,  the  Lamb  that  was  slain.  Amid  an 
universal  outburst  of  triumph  and  blessing  He  takes  the 
book,  and  opens  it  seal  by  seal. 

As  each  seal  is  opened  there  is  a  fresh  vision. 

The  first  is  opened,  and  a  crowned  rider  springs  forth  on  a 
white  horse  conquering  and  to  conquer,  armed  with  a  bow,  to 
smite  his  enemies,  not  as  yet  in  close  conflict,  but  from  afar. 
It  is  the  symbol  of  the  Christ. 


The  Seals.  521 

The  second  is  opened,  and  War  rides  forth  on  a  fiery  horse,  revelation. 
It  is  a  symbol  of  the  internecine  conflicts  which  at  that  epoch 
raged  alike  in  Judea  and  in  the  Roman  world. 

The  third  is  opened,  and  Famine  on  a  black  horse  rides 
forth  unarmed,  but  with  a  balance  in  his  hand,  and  uttering 
an  edict  of  awful  scarcity.  It  indicates  an  epoch  scourged  by 
famines  severe  and  almost  continuous,  which  filled  Rome  with 
alarm  and  misery,  and  reduced  Jerusalem  to  the  horrors  of 
murder  and  cannibalism. 

The  fourth  is  opened,  and  Death  rides  forth  on  a  livid  horse, 
followed  by  Hades  to  receive  the  prey.  It  is  the  symbol  of 
pestilence  and  other  scourges.  In  Rome  in  the  days  of  Nero 
a  pestilence  slew  30,000  of  the  inhabitants  in  a  single  year. 
At  Jerusalem  from  this  and  other  causes  there  was  "  a  glut  of 
mortality,"  from  which  it  is  calculated  that  during  the  siege 
there  perished  not  less  than  one  million  souls. 

The  fifth  is  opened,  and  the  souls  of  the  martyrs  in  the 
Neronian  persecution — which  is  called  "  the  great  tribula- 
tion " — cry  for  vengeance,  and  are  bidden  to  wait  a  while. 

The  sixth  is  opened,  and  there  is  an  outburst  of  signs  lurid 
and  terrible,  which  usher  in  the  Day  of  the  Lord,  in  the 
imminent  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  close  of  the  Old 
Dispensation. 

Before  the  seventh  seal  is  opened  the  servants  of  God  are 
sealed  upon  their  foreheads,  and  there  is  an  awful  pause. 
Then  to  the  seven  great  Angels  are  given  trumpets  to  blow 
the  signal  blasts  of  doom.  A  censer  filled  with  fire  from  the 
altar  is  hurled  down  to  earth,  and  thunders  and  voices  echo 
its  crashing  fall.  The  judgments  which  follow  the  blast  of 
each  trumpet  represent  the  widening  spread  and  more  tragical 
incidence  of  judgments  similar  to  the  former — which  however 
are  neither  definite  nor  continuous  nor  rigidly  historical. 
These  visions — retrogi-essive  and  iterative,  like  those  of 
Pharaoh  and  of  Josej^h  and  of  Daniel — no  longer  affect  a 
fourth  part  but  a  third  part  of  the  earth  ;  that  is,  they  afilict 
the  Roman  Empire  as  symbolising  the  whole  Pagan  world. 


522  The  Revelation  of  St.  John. 

They  recur  in  cycles,  but  constantly  deepen  in  intensity.  The 
trumpet-judgments  represent  in  terrifying  and  colossal  images 
the  catastrophes  which  marked  that  epoch.  We  read  in  the 
history  of  that  period  about  storms  and  inundations,  earth- 
quakes and  devastations  of  hail,  internecine  civil  wars,  the 
bloodshed  of  battles  which  stained  the  livers  and  seas,  the 
poisoning  of  springs  and  fountains,  the  overthrow  and  assassi- 
nation of  rulers,  the  carnage,  the  riotous  wickedness,  the 
demoniac  frenzy  and  indescribable  anguish,  the  gathering 
hosts  of  cavalry  and  infantry,  the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  the 
anticipated  Parthian  invasions,  the  epidemics  of  massacre 
unparalleled  in  all  the  rest  of  history.  What  else  can  we 
make  of  these  burning  mountains  flung  down  into  seas  of' 
blood ;  the  great  star  Absinth,  which  makes  the  waters  bitter ; 
this  smiting  with  darkness  of  the  sun  and  moon  and  stars  ; — 
these  scorpion-locusts  swarming  out  of  the  abyss ;  these  two 
hundred  million  horsemen,  breast-plated  with  fiery  jacinth, 
and  riding  on  lion-headed  steeds,  who,  with  their  flames  and 
amphisbaena-stmgs,  slay  the  third  part  of  men  who  do  not 
repent?  These  strange  scenes  are  described  in  symbols 
suggested  by  the  Plagues  of  Egyi^t  and  the  old  prophets,  and 
are  repeated  in  other  Apocalyptic  books  of  this  period.  They 
either  imply  nothing  to  which  we  can  attach  any  definite 
significance,  or  they  are  pictures  of  events  synchronous,  or 
imminent,  or  anticipated,  seen  through  the  lurid  and  blood- 
red  mist  of  cryptographic  images,  and  described  in  the  famihar 
hyperboles  of  Semitic  metaphor.  The  trumpets  are  a  sketch 
of  contemporary  calamities  written  in  language  which  is  a 
hundred-fold  reverberation  of  the  woes  depicted  by  Isaiah  and 
Joel,  and  the  proj^hets  of  Judah  and  Israel  in  ancient  days. 

Then  follows  an  episode  which  has  never  been  fully  under- 
stood. An  angel  of  sun-like  face,  robed  in  clouds,  and 
crowned  with  the  rainbow,  descends  with  a  little  book  in  his 
hand,  and  when  he  speaks  in  the  voice  as  of  a  lion  seven 
thunders  utter  things  which  the  Seer  is  forbidden  to  write. 
The  Angel  swears  with  uplifted  hand   that  at  the   seventh 


The  Roll.  523 

trumpet-blast  the  mystery  of  God  shall  be  finished.  The 
Seer  is  bidden  to  eat  the  roll.  In  his  mouth  it  is  sweet  as 
lioney ;  in  his  belly  it  is  bitter.  This  imagery  seems  to  imply 
that  much  of  the  future  is  to  be  left  in  mystery,  and  that  the 
things  which  are  to  be  revealed  will  have  commingled  the 
bitterness  of  judgment  and  the  sweetness  of  consolation.  The 
six  seals  have  affected  the  fourth  part  of  all  mankind ;  after 
the  sealing  of  the  servants  of  God  {i.e.,  the  members  of  the 
Christian  Church)  the  six  trumpets  affect  only  Jews  and 
Pagans.  Before  the  seventh  trumpet,  after  the  measuring 
of  the  Temple,  the  preaching,  martyrdom,  and  resuscitation 
of  the  two  witnesses,  and  the  great  earthquake  which  shakes 
down  a  tenth  part  of  their  city,  the  remnant  of  the  Jews 
repent  and  give  glory  to  God.  The  total  failure  of  any 
Christian  commentator  in  any  age  to  do  more  than  guess 
at  the  significance  of  these  symbols,  and  the  complete 
variance  of  the  explanations  suggested  for  them,  shows  that 
they  belong  to  the  subordinate  and  less  essential  elements 
of  the  book.  If  neither  Irenaeus  the  hearer  of  Polycarp,  nor 
Polycarp  the  hearer  of  St.  John,  nor  the  learned  schools  of 
Alexandria  and  Antioch,  nor  Augustine,  nor  Jerome,  nor 
Andreas,  nor  Arethas,  have  succeeded  in  throwing  the  least 
light  on  the  definite  historic  meaning  of  these  symbols,  it  is 
impossible — and  therefore  must  be  needless — for  us  to  do 
more  than  to  try  and  grasp  such  eternal  principles  as  they,  no 
less  than  the  rest  of  the  book,  consistently  imply. 

The  next  vision,  on  the  other  hand,  is  retrospective  and 
perfectly  clear.  A  star-crowned  woman,  representing  the 
ideal  Church  of  Israel,  brings  forth  a  man-child,  who  sym- 
bolises partly  the  Messiah,  partly  the  Christian  Church.  A 
scarlet  dragon,  with  seven  diademed  heads  and  ten  horns — 
an  emblem  of  Satan  as  represented  by  the  Roman  Empire 
with  its  seven  successive  Emperors  and  its  ten  Provincial- 
Governors — endeavours  to  devour  the  Child.  But  the  Woman, 
the  Mother-Church  of  Jerusalem  which  had  rocked  tlie 
cradle   of   Gentile  Christianity,  flies  to  the  Wilderness — to 


524)  The  Revelation  of  St.  John. 

Pctra,  on  the  edge  of  the  Arabian  desert,  and  is  there  safe  for 

1,260  days,  i.e.  during  the  liorrors  of  the  three  and  a  half 

years  between  the  time  when  Vespasian  began  his  dreadful 

work  in  Judea,  and  A.D.  70,  when  city  and  temple  perished 

in  fire  and  blood.     The  Dragon  is  overcome  by  Michael,  and 

the  Woman,  aided  by  the  eagle-wings  of  divine  protection, 

escapes  in  safety. 

Then  in  the  vision   of  the  Wild   Beast  from   the   Sea, 

St.   John   intimates,   as   clearly   as    any    Apocalypse    could 

possibly  intimate,  that  he  is  speaking  of  Rome  and  Nero.^ 

He  describes  this  Wild  Beast  by  sixteen  distinctive  marks, 

every  one  of  which  points  to  Rome  and  Nero,  and  most  of 

them  to  Nero  only ;  and  then,  in  a  very  common  form  of 

enigma,  known  to  the  Jews  as  Gcmatria,  and  to  the  Greeks 

as  isopsciiMa,  he  gives  the  numeiical  equivalent  of  the  Wild 

Beast's  name.     That  equivalent  is  three  sixes — 6  6  G — three 

numbers  symbolic  of  earthliness  and  imperfection.     In  the 

same   way   in   the   Sibylline   books   the  name   of  Rome   is 

isopsephically  represented  in  the  number  948,  and  the  name 

of  Jesus  is   indicated  by  three   perfect   numbers — 8   units, 

8   tens,  8   hundreds — 888.      This    suggestion    of   numerical 

equivalents   for   the   letters   of    names   had    in    it    nothing 

essentially  mysterious.    In  itself  it  was  as  easy  to  decipher  as 

when  Dante  prophesies  in  the  Purgatorio  (xxxiii.  43)  that  500, 

10,  and  55  should  slay  the  harlot  and  the  giant.    In  Dante  the 

three  numbers  stand  for  DXV,  i.e.  Dux,  and  refer  to  Can  Grande, 

Lord  of  Verona.2     Any  ordinary  reader  would  instantly  (and 

1  For  a  further  elucidation  I  must  refer  to  my  Early  Days  of  Christianity, 
ii.  281-301.  In  the  Sibylline  verses  Nero  is  called  "  the  Beast,"  "  the  serpent," 
&c.  The  belief  that  666  =  Nero  Caesar  "IDp  illj  is  adopted  by  Fritzsche,  Benary, 
Reuss,  Ilitzig,  Volkmar,  Ewald,  kc.  In  the  ancient  various  readings  616  is 
the  correction  of  some  reader  who  dropped  tlic  final  n  in  the  word  Neron. 

-  The  only  difference  is  that  in  Dante's  enigma  the  word  Dux,  "leader,"  is 
not  expressed  isopsephically  but  witli  reference  to  the  Koman  numerals,  D,X,V. 
And  yet  simple  as  is  the  solution  lie  adds, 

E  forse  che  la  mia  narrazion  Iniia, 
Qual  Temi  e  Sfinge,  men  ti  persuade, 
Perclife  a  lor  mode  lo  intelletto  attuia  ; 
JIa  tosto  fien  li  fatti,  Ic  Naiade 

Che  solveranno  questo  enigma  forte, 
Senza  danno  di  pecore  e  di  blade. 


Gematria.  525 

for  the  Christian  community  very  perilously)  have  deciiihered  revelation. 

the  riddle  had  not  St.  John  intentionally  made  his  Gematria 

correspond  to  Hebrew  letters  and  not  to  Greek.     In  Hebrew 

letters  the  names  Neron  Kesar — Nero  Caesar — give  6  6  6. 

Even  to  the  early  fathers — who  guessed  the  solution  Lateinos 

— it  was  known  that  St.  John  meant   by  the  Wild  Beast 

Nero  and  the  Roman  Empire.     Of  course,  Lattinos,  '•'  a  Latin 

man,"  could  not  possibly  be  the  real  solution,  but  it  pointed 

in  the  right  direction.     Nor  were  they  far  wrong  when  they 

guessed  Tcitan,  for  Titan  was  an  old  name  for  the  sun,  and 

Nero   affected  the  attributes  of   the  sun,  and  had   himself 

represented  as  the  sun-god  with  radiated  head  in  the  huge 

colossus   of  himself  which   he   reared   at   Rome.      Another 

ancient  guess,  Euanthas,  is  probably  also  intended  to  indicate 

Nero,   who   prided   himself  on   the   long   hair   which   grew 

down   his    neck.     If    the    early  writers   failed    to   discover 

the  exact  equivalent,  it  was  only  because  most  of  them  were 

entu'ely  ignorant  of  Hebrew,  and  it  did  not  occur  to  them  as 

it  occurred  simultaneously  to  many  modern  scholars,  to  try 

the  solution  of  the  isopsephia  in  Hebrew.^ 

The  second  Wild  Beast,  also  called  the  False  Prophet,  is 
described  by  ten  indications.^     No  breath  of  tradition  as  to 

"And  hajily  my  narration  dark  like  those 

Of  Sphinx,  or  Themis,  credit  may  not  claim, 

Since  o'er  the  mind  like  them  a  cloud  it  throws, 
But  soon  this  hard  enigma  to  explain. 

Events  shall  be  the  ffidipns  ;  nor  blade 

Nor  flock  therefrom  shall  injury  sustain." — Wkight. 
*  If  it  be  objected  that  Nero  neither  returned  to  life  nor  reappeared,  the 
answer  is  twofold,  (1)  At  this  epoch  both  among  Jews,  Christians,  and 
heathens,  there  was  a  universal  expectation  that  he  would,  an  expectation  that 
lasted  centuries  later  (Suet.  Nero.  40-57  ;  Tac.  Hist.  i.  2  ;  ii.  8,  9  ;  Dion. 
Cass.  Ixiv.  9  ;  Lactant.  Mort.  Pcrscc.  2  ;  Aug.  Civ.  Dei.  xx.  19  ;  Sulpic.  Sever. 
ii.  36  ;  Jerome  on  Dan.  xi.  28  ;  Chrysostom  on  2  Thess.  ii.).  (2)  Domitian  W-as 
regarded  and  universally  spoken  of  as  a  second  Nero  (Suet.  2'it.  7  ;  Tert. 
Apol.  5  ;  I>e  Pall.  4  ;  Juv.  .S'«i.  iv.  35,  kc).  Moreover  Otho  at  the  beginning 
of  his  short  reign  not  only  allowed  himself  to  be  saluted  as  Nero,  but  even 
wrote  to  the  Provinces  in  Nero's  name.  Further,  as  Thiersch  says,  the  popular 
legend  involved  an  ideal  truth.  Symbolically  speaking,  Nero  did  return,  and 
every  Antichrist,  from  Antiochus  Epiphanes  downwards,  has  had  Neronian 
characteristics. 

^  Tliey  will  be  found  detailed  and  explained  in  Farhj  Days  of  Christianihi 
ii.  301-330. 


524 


Tli€  Bemlaticm  of  St.  John. 


la-.A-EL^vTioK.  Petra,  on  the  edge  of  the  Arabian  desert,  and  is  thjere  safe  foi 

1,260  days,  i.c.  during  the  Lorrors  of  the  three  and  a  lialf 

years  between  the  time  when  Tespasian  began  big  dreadful 

work  in  Jndea,  and  AJD.  70,  when  city  and  temj)le  jjerished 

in  fire  and  blood.     The  Dragon  is  overcome  by  Michael,  and 

the  "Woman,  aided  by  the  eagle-'v\'ingB  of  divine  protection, 

escapes  in  safety. 

Then  in  the  vision    of  tbe  "Wild   Beast   from  the   Sea, 

St.   John   intimates,   as   clearly   as    any    Apocalypse    could 

possibly  intimate,  that  he  is  speaking  of  ^ome  and  Nero.^ 

He  describes  this  Wild  Beast  by  sixteen  distinctive  marks, 

every  one  of  wbich  points  to  Home  and  I^ero,  and  most  of 

them  to  Isero  only ;  and  then,  in  a  very  common  form  of 

enigma,  known  to  the  Jews  as  Gcmatria.  and  to  the  Greeks 

as  isopsqjhia,  he  gives  the  numerical  eqtii^'alent  of  the  "Wild 

Beast's  name.     That  equi^valent  is  three  sixes — C  C  C — three 

numbers  symbolic  of  eartbliness  and  imperfection.     In  the 

same   Avay   in   the    Sibylline    books   the  name    of  Bome   is 

isopsephically  represented  in  the  number  946,  and  the  name 

of  Jesus  is  indicated  by  three   perfect  numbers — 6  units, 

8  tens,  6   hundreds — 888.      This    sugg^tion    of   numerical 

equivalents  for  the  lettere   of    names  had    in    it   notbing 

essentially  mvBterious.    In  itself  it  -vs-as  as  easy  to  decipher  a£ 

when  Dante  prophesies  in  iheFiirgatorio  (xxxiii.4S)  that  500, 

10,  and  55  should  slay  the  harlot  and  the  giant.    In  Dante  the 

three  numbers  stand  for  DXT,  i.c.Dux,  and  refer  to  Can  Grande, 

Lord  of  Yerona."    Any  ordinary  reader  woidd  instantly  I'and 

^  For  a  farther  elucidation  I  must  refer  to  nrr  Early  Daiff  r 
ii.  281-301.    In  the  Bihvliiuo  verses  Isero  is  (^lled  "  tki  lieast,'    ' 

&c.    Thr  belief  that  66C  =  Kero  Caesai'  TDp  HTi  is  adopted  by  Fri:- ....  ;. . 

lieuss.  Hitzig,  Tolkniar,  Ewald,  kc.     In  tl»e  anciout  various  reuiiiii^  tJio  ui 
tht  correction  of  sonif  reader  wlio  dropped  tlic  liual  n  in  tiu'  won!  Keron. 

-  Tiie  only  diilereuce  is  that  ui  Dante's  enigma  the  word  JJux.  "leader,"  is 
not  expressed  isopscphicaHy  but  witii  relereuco  to  the  Konian  numetaifi,  D,X,T. 
And  yet  simple  as  i.s  the  eoiution  he  adds, 

E  forei:  chi'  la  mia  uanuzion  buia, 

Qual  Temi  e  Shugo,  men  ti  iwnsuadc, 
Terche  a  lor  niodo  lu  intelletto  attuia  ; 
ila  tosto  lien  li  fatti.  Iv  Kuiude 

Che  solveranno  xjuesto  enigma  forte, 
£euzu  daiiuo  u\  jiecort'  e  di  biade. 


5: 

BCErru 
5en  '- 

gnKTU 


Conjlicts  and  TriumpJis.  527 

y.  The  Hallelujahs  over  her  defeat  (xix.  1-10). 

2.  Second  conflict  and  triumph. 

a.  The  enemies  are  the  Beast  and  False  Prophet,  repre- 
sentatives of  Pagan  empire  and  Pagan  religion,  aided 
by  the  Devil  (xix.  11-19). 

/3.  They  are  defeated  and  flung  into  the  abyss  (xix.  20- 
XX.  3). 

y.  The  Millennial  triumph  (xx.  4-6). 

3.  Third  conflict  and  triumph. 

a.  The  enemy  is  Satan  unloosed,  heading  the  nations 
Gog  and  Magog  (xx.  7-8). 

^.  They  are  defeated  and  destroyed  (xx.  9-10). 

y.  The  final  victory,  the    new  heaven    and    earth,   the 

Heavenly  Jerusalem  (xxi.-xxii.  5), 

The  Book  ends  with  an  epilogue  in  which  we  have  the  triple 

attestation  of  the  Angel,  of  Jesus,  and  of  St.  John,  to  the 

truth  of  these  prophecies  (xxi.  6-7),  and  after  the  adjuration 

to  those  who  copied  the  Book  to  keep  it  in  its  integrity,  it 

closes  with  the  words  of  the  Lord — which  are  practically  the 

idea  of  the  whole  prophecy — "  Yea,  I  come  quickly. "     The 

Seer  answers,  "  Amen  !  come.  Lord  Jesus,"  and  concludes  with 

the  brief  blessing,  "  The  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  be  with  the 

Saints."  ^ 

It  is  deeply  to  be  deplored  that  while  Christians  have  so 

often  and  so  anxiously  employed  years  of  study  in  the  attempt 

to  explain  details  by  methods  of  exegesis  wholly  inapplicable 

to  this  or  to  any  other  of  the  numerous  extant  Apocalypses — ■ 

or,  indeed,  to  any  book  or  prophecy  of  Scripture — they  have 

succeeded   in  throwing  general    discredit  on   j^romises   and 

encouragements  which  were   meant  to  be  precious  to  the 

Church  in  all  ages,  but  most  of  all  during  times  of  persecu- 

ti(tn.     No  one  can  understand  the  Apocalypse    aright  who 

does    not  begin  with    studying   this    form    of  literature    in 

general,  and  understanding  its  common  characteristics,  the 

^  In  the  Epilogue  the  Triple  Attestation  is  twice  repeated.  The  Angel 
speaks  twice  in  verses,  6,  9-11.  The  Lord  twice  in  verses,  7,  12-17.  fcjt. 
John  twice,  8,  18-20. 


528  The  Revelation  of  St.  John. 

nature  and  limits  of  the  imagery  in  which  it  revels,  and 
what  he  should  expect  fiom  it.  He  must  abandon  the  rash 
fanaticism  of  ignorance  and  narrowness.  He  must  refuse  to 
be  led  into  the  quagmire  of  private  interpretations  after  the 
ignis  fatuus  of  narrow  religious  hatred.  He  must  bear  in 
mind  that  it  is  always  the  primary  object  of  a  writer  to  be 
understood  by  those  whom  he  addresses,  and  that  he  writes 
with  reference  to  events  which  stir  his  own  heart  and  the 
hearts  of  those  among  whom  he  lives.  He  must  discount 
the  oriental  hyperboles  which  were  partly  necessitated  by 
the  perils  of  the  time,  and  were  partly  congruous  to  the 
grandiose  form  of  these  ancient  allegories.  He  must  neither 
criticise  an  Apocalypse  by  the  canons  of  Hellenic  taste  nor 
of  Aristotelian  logic. 

The  two  cities  which  towered  so  vast  before  the  imagination 
of  the  Seer,  and  which  formed  the  terrible  antithesis  to  the 
City  of  God,  were  Rome  and  Jerusalem.  The  main  events 
which  at  that  epoch  crowded  the  horizon  of  the  world  were 
the  Fire  of  Rome,  the  setting  of  the  sun  of  the  Julian  line 
into  seas  of  blood,  the  revolt  of  Judea,  the  burnings  of  the 
Temple  of  Jehovah  in  Jerusalem,  and  of  Jupiter  Latiaris  in 
Rome.  The  events  which  crowded  the  horizon  of  the  Church 
were  the  Neronian  Persecution,  the  Fall  of  Jerusalem,  the 
close  of  the  Old  Dispensation,  the  Coming  of  the  Lord. 
Amid  minor  details  this  is  the  double  series  of  events  which 
is  dealt  with  in  the  book  of  the  prophecy.  It  is  the  book  of 
the  Second  Advent.  It  is  the  consolation  of  martyrdom.  It 
is  the  burden  of  Jerusalem.  It  is  the  burden  of  Pagan 
Rome.  It  is  a  stormy  comment — dictated  by  its  commencing 
accomplishments — upon  the  great  eschatological  discourse 
which  Jesus  uttered  to  His  disciples  on  Olivet,  in  which  Ho 
had  told  them  that  that  generation  should  not  pass  away  till 
all  things  were  fulfilled.  It  is  a  paean  and  a  prophecy  over 
the  ashes  of  the  Neronian  martyrs.  It  breathes  an  infinite 
defiance  against  all  tyrannies,  whether  they  assume  the  garb 
of  religion  or  of  the  world.     It  is  the  tremendous  counter- 


The  Overthrow  of  Evil.  529 

manifesto  of  a  Christian  seer,  uttering  the  language  of  im-  revelation. 
mortal  confidence  in  God,  and  assured  certainty  of  triumph, 
as  he  stood  face  to  face  with  the  bloodstained  fury  of  imperial 
heathendom.  The  writer  himself  tells  us — though  he  has 
not  been  attended  to — that  he  is  going  to  write  "  the  things 
which  are,"  and  "  the  things  which  must  speedily  come  to  pass."  ^ 
But  meanwhile,*  amid  these  contemporary  allusions,  the 
book  from  end  to  end  reminds  us  of  eternal  realities  and 
immeasurable  hopes.  The  visions  of  Christ  which  precede 
each  crisis  of  horrible  judgment,  the  psalms  and  harpnotes  of 
heaven  which  are  heard  amid  the  cries  and  the  fury  of  men, 
all  point  the  same  lesson.  Fear  not,  even  in  the  midst  of 
anguish  and  persecution,  ye  true  saints  of  God.  Christ  shall 
triumph  !  Christ's  enemies  shall  be  overthrown  !  All  who 
hate  Him  shall  be  hurled  into  ruin ;  all  who  love  Him  shall, 
after  this  brief  spasm  of  anguish,  be  blessed  everlastingly.  On 
Judea  and  Jerusalem,  the  strongholds  of  a  false  orthodoxy 
and  a  false  religion — on  Rome  and  Nero,  the  representatives 
of  earthly  oppression — the  doom  has  gone  forth.  Old  things 
are  vanishing  away,  but  the  things  that  cannot  be  shaken.. 
shall  remain.  Before  the  seals  are  opened,  before  the 
trumpets  are  blown,  before  the  vials  are  poured  forth,  heaven 
is  opened  for  us  that  we  may  see  the  King  in  His  beauty.^ 
An  awful  darkness  is  falling  on  the  earth,  but  already  the 
grey  secret  of  the  East  is  beginning  to  reveal  the  new  and 
never-ending  dawn.  Maran  atha — the  Lord  is  at  hand  !  Even 
so,  come.  Lord  Jesus !  Abide  with  us,  for  the  day  is  far 
spent !  And  thus  from  first  to  last  the  object  of  the  book  is 
simply  practical.  It  is  to  encourage  Christians  to  endurance 
by  the  lessons  of  Hope.  It  is  to  keep  them  faithful  to  all 
that  is  good  by  showing  them  the  destined  overthrow  of  all 
that  is  evil. 

^  Eev.  i.  1.  (V  rdxet,  ii.  5,  16  ;  raxv,  iii.  11  ;  xi.  14  ;  xxii.  20.  Almost 
every  fragment  of  ancient  traditional  interpretation  refers  the  allusions  of  the 
Apocalypse  to  events  of  the  epoch  in  which  it  was  written. 

-  See  iv.  5  (before  the  Seals) ;  viii.  2-6  (before  the  Trumpets)  ;  xv.  (before 
the  Vials). 

M    M 


530  The  Revelation  of  St.  John. 

KEVELATiox.  And  tliiis,  uEiderstooJ  in  its  general  outlines,  the  Apocalypse 
ceases  to  be  a  great  silent  Sphinx  propounding  at  the  outer  gate 
of  the  New  Testament  its  menacing  and  insoluble'  enigma, 
and  it  becomes  in  its  essence  a  series  of  glorious  pictures 
"  wherein,"  as  was  said  by  Herder  the  great  poet-tlieologian, 
"  are  set  forth  the  rise,  the  visible  existence,  and  the  general 
future  of  Christ's  kingdom  in  figures  and  similitudes  of  His 
first  coming  to  terrify  and  to  console."  ^  It  is  a  "  precious  vessel 
in  which  the  treasury  of  Christian  hope  has  been  deposited  for 
all  ages  of  the  Church,  but  especially  for  the  Church  under 
the  Cross."  - 

1  The  practical  aim  of  the  writer  is  expressed  again  and  again.  See  (besides 
the  seven  letters)  vi.  9-11  ;  xiii.  9,  10  ;  xiv.  4-7,  12,  13  ;  xvi.  15  ;  xix.  9  ; 
XX.  6  :  xxi.  xxii.  passi;n. 

■  Godet. 


Apocalyptic  Symbols. 


531 


NOTE. 

APOCALYPTIC   SYMBOLS. 

A  synoptic  glance  at  the  series  of  the  Seven  Seals,  of  which  the 
Seventh  seems  to  include  the  Seven  Trumpets,  and  the  Seven  Trumpets, 
of  which  the  Seventh  seems  to  include  the  Seven  Vials,  will  shew  their 
parallelism.  It  will  also  be  seen  how  largely  the  images  are  borrowed 
from  the  Twelve  Plagues  of  Egypt,  from  the  Eschatological  discourses 
of  Christ,  from  Isaiah,  Joel,  Ezekiel,  Daniel,  &c. 


REVELATION. 


The  Seven  Seals. 
(Ti-viii.  1.) 


1.  The  white  horse.  The 
conqueror  Christ  aruied 
with  a  bow. 


The  Seven  Trumpets. 
(viii.  1-xi.  18.) 


Hail,  and  Fire,  and  Blood. 


2.  The  red  horse.    War.  The  Burning  Mountain.    The 

sea  turned  to  blood. 


3.  The  black  horse.  Famine     The  star,  Wormwood. 


The  Seven  Vials. 
(xvi.  1-21.) 


A    grievous    sore   on   the 
Worshipjiers  of  the  Beast. 


The  sea  turned  into  blood. 


The  rivers  turned  to  blood. 


4.  The  livid  horse.    Pesti-  '  Sun  and  stars  darkened, 
lence. 


Scorching  heat    from    the 

sun. 


5.    Martyred  souls   crying  i  Pause.    An  eagle  crying  woe. 

for  vengeance. 

j  Thq  scorpion— locusts. 


6.  Earthquake. 


Four  angels  loosed. 
Two   hundred   million   horse- 
men in  breastplates  of  fire. 


".  Epu^ide.  (vii.)  The  seal 
ing.    The  great  multitude, 
Silence.  The  seven  trumpet 
angels. 

Censer  hurled  to  earth. 
Earthquake.  Thunders. 
Voices. 


Episode,  (x-xi.  14.)  The 
little  book.  The  measuring 
reed.    The  two  witnesses. 


Groat  voices,  thunder,  hail. 


Drying  of  the  Euphrates. 


Episode,    (xvi.  13-16.) 
The  three  frogs. 


Lightnings,  thunders,  earth- 
quake. 


The     Three     Foes        The  i  The   ttoee    combats,    vic- 
Devil,  the  Beast,  the  False       tories,  and  results  (xvii.  1- 

Prophet  (xii.  i.-xiii.  18).  |     xxii.  5). 

Anticipations    of    the   Final  ; 

Catastrophe  (xiv.  1-xv.  4).  | 


Apocalyptic  symbf)ls  must  only  be  criticised  under  the  conditions  in 
which  the  Eastern  imagination  works.  We  ought  not  to  seek  in  them 
tlie  severe  beauty,  the  pure  forms  of  classic  poetry,  still  less  the  charm- 
ing outlines  and  lovely  pictures  of  modem  taste.     It  is  the  burning 


532  The  Revelation  of  St.  John. 

breath  of  the  East  which  animates  these  figures ;  it  is  an  unbridled 
imagination  which,  everywhere  sacrifices  grace  to  boklness,  proportion  to 
the  necessity  to  strike  and  dazzle,  and  which,  influenced  by  the  desire  to 
abandon  the  limits  of  prosaic  reality,  does  not  recoil  from  what  seems  to 
us  grotesque  and  revolting.  That  which  gives  to  the  Apocalypse  its 
special  peculiarity  is  the  endless  personifications,  each  more  daring  than 
the  last  ;  the  embodiment  of  abstract  ideas  in  visible  forms  to  the 
astonished  eyes  of  the  spectator,  who  contemplates  them  with  a  curiosity 
mingled  with  terror.  Willi  all  this  tlie  descriptions  are  not  clear  and 
lucid  ;  the  drapery  is  cloudy,  the  outlines  vague  and  indistinct.  All  the 
attempts,  for  instance,  in  the  illustrated  Bibles  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
to  paint  the  scenes  of  the  Apocalypse  are  inevitably  caricatures  in  pro- 
portion to  their  fidelity  to  the  text.  No  one  can  paint  symbolised  ideas. 
An  angel  whose  legs  are  pillars  of  fire  ;  the  Christ  out  of  whose  mouth 
comes  a  sword  and  in  whose  hand  are  seven  stars  ;  a  Lamb  with  seven 
horns  and  seven  eyes  who  opens  a  book  ;  how  can  these  be  painted  ? 
What  we  have  to  do  is  to  fix  our  eyes  on  the  ideal  signification  and  not 
at  all  on  the  material  symbol.^  In  these  eagles  with  human  voices, 
altars  which  speak  (xvi.  7),  angels  clothed  in  precious  stones,  single  stars 
which  fall  on  all  rivers  and  infect  them  with  poison,  sting-armed 
locusts,  army-collecting  frogs,  and  millions  of  horsemen  in  breastplates 
of  hyacinth,  we  must  see,  not  material  figures,  but  only  symbols.  In 
the  book  of  Enoch  "  stars  "  eat,  and  have  hands  and  feet.  The  image  of 
the  star  is  immediately  superseded  by  direct  references  to  the  personality 
which  it  represents. 

The  characteristics  of  Apocalyptic  literature  are — 

1.  The  cessation  of  normal  Prophecy. 

2.  Visions  poetically  described. 

3.  Symbols  which,  unlike  those  of  the  ancient  Prophets,  need  special 
explanation. 

4.  The  Kabbalism  of  numbers. 

5.  "  Gematria,"  "  isopKejihisin." 

6.  Imaginative  hyperbole.^ 

The  date  of  the  Apocalypse  is  definitely  fixed  by  i.  9  ;  vii.  9-17  ;  xi. 
1-2  ;  xii.  6  ;  xvii.  9-11  ;  and  that  date  (as  we  have  seen)  is  the  age  of 
Galba,  about  a.d.  68. 

^  See  Keuss,  L'Apocahjp.ie,  pp.  21,  22. 

-  See  Immer,  Tlicologie  des  N.  T.  445,  Schiirer,  Neutest.  Zeitgesch.  449. 


($>^ 


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LONDON  :  R.  CLAY,  30KS,  AND  TAYLOR,  PRINTKRS. 


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